American Pie: The Wedding

American Pie: The Wedding

DVD Rating: ***

Reviewed by: Andrea Mullaney

Read Angus Wolfe Murray's film review of American Pie: The Wedding

Should you ever need to see test shots of pubic hair, this is the DVD for you. Or, as producer Craig Perry puts it, in a feature entitled Grooming The Groom (about the scene where Jim shaves more than his face, then throws it all out of the window), "We have millions of dollars and incredibly talented people, all collecting their intellect, their skills and creativity to create a pube tornado. This is awesome!"

That quote, with its recognition of how basically silly the whole enterprise is, sums up the extra features, which thankfully eschew anything too technical for a good-hearted celebration of its nonsense. Equally telling is a moment, in the featurette Enter The Dominatrix: Inside The Bachelor Party (showing the shooting of the long strippers-meet-inlaws scene), where writer/producer Adam Herz is interrupted during an erudite exposition of working practices, when a nearly naked, plastic-breasted model walks past on her way to the fridge. Herz, massively distracted, stumbles to a halt with a rueful look of "whaddya gonna do?"

Copy picture

The model in question, Nikki Schieler Ziering, is actually a sweetie, as a well-edited feature about her preparations for the premiere shows. See her work out, not wearing a sports bra - isn't that uncomfortable? - then get sleazed by gym owner Ryan O'Neal, before having her leg-hair lasered by a dermatologist named Shamban (yes, really), all with a giddy smile.

The two lightweight commentaries, one with director Jesse Dylan and Seann William Scott, the other with Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Thomas Ian Nicholas, show all concerned had a fun time, as do the outtakes - either you find actors cracking up for no reason during scenes amusing, or you don't.

Oddly enough, the gleeful larking about comes across as less sleazy, more daffy, despite all the sex talk. The deleted scenes are mostly soppy, while the Cheesy Wedding Video is just that. There is as much non-family friendly stuff as in the film itself, notably in Stifler Speak, a guide to Scott's character's randomly constructed bad language. Co-star Fred Willard describes him as working with profanity "like Picasso worked with oils".

Sadly, the extras don't tell us what the director's dad - one Bob Dylan - thought of the film. Imagine what Stifler could have done with Blowing In The Wind.

Reviewed on: 26 Feb 2004
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American Pie: The Wedding packshot
Third installment in the randy boys' saga of sexual misdemeanours, this time in a marital context.
Amazon link

Product Code: 8211725

Region: 2

Ratio: 2.35 Anamorphic Wide

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Extras: Two audio commentaries with cast and director; deleted scenes; outtakes; features - Stifler Speak, Enter The Dominatrix, Grooming The Groom, Cheesy Wedding Video, Nikki’s Hollywood Journal


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