American Pie 2 (2001)

The Sequel of the Good-Natured Sex Comedy

The movies American Pie and There's Something About Mary found the secret to successfully selling the gross-out/sex comedy. It was this: you could put in whatever over-the-top humor that you wanted to, including gross-out gags, as long as you attach some sort of identifiable sweet sentimentality to the main characters. Your protagonists had to be good-hearted, not mean-spirited; that way, whatever comedic anguish they went through in the story gave the audience the feeling that, even though it was fun to laugh at what happens to them, ultimately they'll want to root for them. The gags were funny, but, more importantly, characters played by the likes of Ben Stiller and Jason Biggs were loveable as losers.

It is therefore to the advantage of American Pie 2 that it feels just like the first movie. In fact, it almost feels too much like the first movie in that it somewhat recycles set gags and story elements. However, the overall feeling remains. There's enough bawdy humor to laugh at, but in the end the audience should be pulling for the main characters again. It's all about sex again, but, like the first movie, it handles it with a sense of balance between the lewdness and the awkwardness of the subject.

To sum it up in a statement, American Pie 2, like the first movie, is a good-natured sex comedy. It just goes to show that a little bit of sweetness goes a long way. Or would it be more appropriate to say, in this case, that a lot of sweetness is used to go a long way? The movie is about an eventful summer in the lives of those characters we got to know from the first film: luckless loser Jim (Jason Biggs), athletic softie "Oz" (Chris Klein), take-charge guy Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), and eccentic oddball Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas). Along for more of the ride this time is the abrasive party-animal Stifler (Seann William Scott). In the summer after their first year at college, the gang rent a vacation lodge. The plot mostly centers around Jim as he prepares himself for a return visit from foreign-exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth).

As I was saying, the sweetness and "good-naturedness" is stretched quite a ways in this movie. I've never seen such understanding and cooperative people. One of the characters, Jim's Dad (the always likeable Eugene Levy), may be one of those embarassing parents at first, but he is eventually seen as cool because he fully understands and supports his son as he goes through all his humiliating sex rites of passage. Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), Miss "This One Time at Band Camp," returns and is awfully cooperative when it comes to personally tutoring Jim on the finer points of sexual intimacy. Two other characters who have every right to feel threatened by our heroes at one point turn something that should be cause for great alarm into a game in which they feel very comfortable with themselves. Where are these people in real life? Most anyone I know would be quite unreasonable about the things that happen in this movie.

Oh well. In the end, it's not really a bother. The "good-naturedness" of the movie turns out to be an asset when, once again, the audience is rooting for our heroes down the stretch. About the only other thing I would have to complain about the movie is its rather glaring imbalance in its following the original main characters. Most of the story is about Jim, and some good amount of attention is payed to the antics of Stifler and Finch. However, both Oz, a particularly likeable character in the first movie, and Kevin are practically written off in to a corner. They barely have screen time in the movie. Also, surprisingly, many of the last movie's leading ladies have tiny tiny bit parts in this movie. Heather (Mena Suvari), Vicky (Tara Reid), and Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) feel like they've been reduced to cameos. Nadia isn't in much more of the movie; really, only Michelle plays an important role in the story. I am glad, though, that an unwanted alternative in the form of a totally contrived sub-plot wasn't used to make up for it. I'll just say right here (because it doesn't contribute to much of the story at all) that Oz and Heather remain faithful to each other and apparently have a very stable relationship despite being apart for the summer. I'm glad they didn't decide to throw in some storyline where, say, Oz, through some grave misunderstanding, makes the mistake of thinking that Heather cheated on him. Sure they don't get much screen-time, but the fact that a movie displays a loving and straightforward relationship is actually quite a breath of fresh air.

The important thing is that fans of the first movie should enjoy the second movie. They brought everyone, and I mean everyone, back for appearances in this movie. The characters are familiar and still sweet and loveable. The sex-talk is as candid as it was before. There are gross jokes and anatomy jokes. There's a soundtrack consisting of modern rock tunes. There's a love story to cheer for. And when it's all over, it'll feel like one of those "unforgettable summers" with old friends. Is over-familiarity a weakness for a movie like this? When it's this genial, that familiarity may actually be a strength.

Rating: 7/10

©Jeffrey Chen, Aug. 12, 2001

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