American Pie 2: A Slice of Summer Fun
Just like with “Dr. Dolittle,” the second “American Pie” doesn’t disappoint. Americans are finally figuring out how to make sequels – continuations of blockbuster movies – even if they’re still keeping it relatively simple. This silly teen comedy is indeed silly, genuinely funny, and definitely in touch with today’s youth.
The characters and setting are preserved in top form. Five college freshmen head off for summer vacation, settling into a mansion near the beach and once again facing the same problem they tried to solve a year ago: what to do with their raging hormones. Inevitably, some freshman girls show up at the same mansion. There are slightly more than five of them, but they’re all the same as before. Each couple has their own method of sexual self-affirmation, which the film develops through a series of small and large gags. The beach, parties, summer camps, pop music, and popcorn all accompany the shenanigans. In the end, sex triumphs again, and everyone goes home.
Teenagers in the audience laugh non-stop. There’s less entertainment for others, but it’s still there. Among the five pranksters, there’s a heartthrob for every taste. For example, Eddie Kaye Thomas is very organic in the role of the languid Finch, who’s no stranger to hatha yoga and tantric sex. Experiencing an orgasm while watering a flowering houseplant with a watering can is something no one seems to have tried in a movie before. Jason Biggs’ portrayal of the self-conscious Jewish boy, Jimmy, has a negative charm and chubby thighs, but at least one scene is absolutely delightful. Jimmy puts on a porn tape, engages in self-pleasure, and decides to use a valuable aphrodisiac. But he confuses the ointment with “Super Cement” glue, and his left hand becomes permanently stuck to his private parts. Then he intends to at least hide the porn tape, but his right hand immediately sticks to it… Even the incident with the ill-mannered Stifler is amusing when, after an incident by the balcony, he enters a crowded room with one short word: “Pissed.” Sean William Scott’s toothy, silent astonishment at this fact is hard not to smile at.
Innocence Amidst the Raunch
Despite the specific humor, there’s no particular vulgarity in the film. Sex itself is a perfectly innocent topic, like food, drink, fashionable music, and clothing. It would become vulgar from contact with harsh reality, but that’s precisely what’s missing in this movie comedy. The scenes with the fake lesbians are a bit drawn out, and the story with the flutist is too absurd, but what else should we forgive teenagers for if not foolishness? Perhaps Mena Suvari and Tara Reid are unexpressive this time, but both of them took off so well after the first “American Pie” that their presence in the sequel is just for show – which is also a good thing.
Director James Rogers managed to unobtrusively present the audience with an hour and a half of carefree, naive, and quite prehistoric innocence. But such a trifle is hard for a director to spoil, especially if they’ve spent ten years assisting directors on “Poison Ivy,” “Feeling Minnesota,” and “Me, Myself & Irene.” So, if you lack the means for the Canary Islands in the current damp and cold, you can escape from winter to summer with “American Pie 2.” A movie ticket is much cheaper, and the result is similar, at least emotionally.