chamerski

If you ever want to see an example of a film that shoots itself in the foot as it comes to its conclusion, this is it. The set-up is quite funny, but the last 25 minutes (and the guys ultimate solution to fixing their dilemma) is so uninspired and idiotic that you'll be shaking your head is disbelief. The opening is terrific, Vince Colosimo and Stephen Curry are both good sports, and they share a great rapport. Rose Byrne is charismatic and gorgeous as ever, but she's given such a nothing role and all but disappears in the second half. There's a clever opening scenes about the origins of take away shops and a few good gags here and there (Curry's expressions are always good for a laugh), but again, the sheer idiocy of the ending ruins all that comes before it. Not helping matters is the similarities in story to The Castle, and a few gags that don't quite work. Co-writer (and very funny stand-up comedian) Dave O'Neill deserves some credit for coming up with some great gags, but there's not much here to sink your teeth into.

While it has it's share of terrific scenes and Seann William Scott is a comic genius - American Pie - The Wedding (which it's known as here in Australia) isn't quite as good as the first two. The reason seems to be that things seem much more contrived this time out, and not as spontaneous as the original was. The highlight is obviously the bachelor party scene which has some great moments for Finch, Stifler and Jim, but there aren't as many laughs as in the first two, which is a shame. Add to this a dull opening act (things don't get going until Stifler enters the scene) and lots of filler where not much really goes on, American Pie - The Wedding is a good but not great, possible end to a nonetheless fine comedy series. But here's hoping that Stifler and the rest of the team have one more of these in them, because they're such appealing movies even when they're not laugh-out-loud funny.