Lovable nebbish Jim (Jason Biggs) is getting married to sweetheart Michelle (Alyson Hannigan, who doesn't appear to be a freak until the cameras roll; see also: Keanu Reeves), while trying to keep the fact of the nuptials from depraved nitwit Stifler (Seann William Scott, still working on that audition tape for
Jackass). Relying, as usual, on Eugene Levy's "Jim's Dad" for a few unfortunate "oh my goodness" reveals, the parade of humiliation this time around takes a detour through "bride's parents" territory with the introduction of Michelle's mom and dad (Deborah Rush and Fred Willard), who, a lot like Jim's Dad, are mainly asked to be the foil/straight people to the picture's tireless puerility. By the end, Stifler will redeem himself after being disgraced a few times, egghead Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) will resume his affair with Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge), and Jim and Michelle will prepare to film
American Honeymoon or something.
Though an entire subplot devoted to homosexuals in a film like this is usually cause for trepidation, American Wedding distinguishes itself with a refreshing affection for its gay characters--enough so that a few same-sex smooches are shown without irony, a same-sex dance is left uncommented-upon at the reception of the wedding in question, and a gay character named Bear (Eric Allan Kramer) is allowed to be a key figure in two set-piece gags. Credit is due screenwriter Adam Herz, on board for every film in the trilogy, for not taking the easy, nor the abysmally imprudent (Gigli), way out. For all the weaknesses of the picture (the lowness of its humour, the formalist cliché of its plot, the questionable performances of its twenty-something leads), it gains for the jettisoning of dead weight (professional dead weight Mena Suvari, Chris Klein, Shannon Elizabeth, and Tara Reid), and for that vague suggestion that it knows how tired and self-replicating it all is by now. The question of why they keep making them, financial considerations aside, remains something of a mystery.-Walter Chaw