After a year apart - attending different schools, meeting different people - the guys rent a beach house and vow to make this the best summer ever. As it turns out, whether that will happen or not has a lot to do with the girls. Between the wild parties, outrageous revelations and yes, a trip to band camp, they discover that times change and people change, but in the end, it's all about sticking together.
12 Mar American Pie (2001)
Jericho, my Butt!
A very interesting film given some realities: this is successfully engineered to tap some cultural acupuncture point — and it does so after the first film provided valuable information about what audiences thought funny. The first film was uncentered by design: the idea with such things is to cheaply provide a model for everyone and let them find their own focus. But not this one. Clearly the masses spoke, and what we have here is a film which nominally has everyone back from the first, but which is about the Levenstein boy and laughing at his ineptness.
Another film about the clumsy Jew? I think Woody Allen has a lot to answer for, or to take credit for depending on your point of view. Until Woody, it was okay for Jews to be funny, but not ridiculous. Check out how the Marx brothers disguised their characters as Italians. Now Ben Stiller has created a cottage industry of goofy Jews.
As a background story, we have the attempts by another dope to master Tantric sex (with a big laugh when he says it is a ‘Buddhist’ thing). Last time we had the stupid Jew outwitted by the Irish Catholic girl as one episode. This time, most of the story concerns him getting advice about sex (because Catholics are better lovers?), and impressing the girl by doing in the movie what he is doing by the movie: going onstage and acting like a retard. There’s a circumcision joke, too.
When this much money is on the line, things are done deliberately, though I doubt the cast had the slightest idea. But that bit about the guy in the audience standing and cheering on Petey, is a fine self-referential touch about how to find touchstones in the public. Very smart signature to show the writers know what’s what. Just look at the comments here on IMDB to see “that guy” cheering on the mentally challenged.
Posted in 2001
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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