Pakistan Day Parade in New York City, 2010

WHAT COULD BE MORE ‘AMERICAN’? A ‘WEDDING’ INVITATION FOR LOVERS OF GROSS, YET SOMEHOW POIGNANT COMEDIES

Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) August 1, 2003 | Glenn Whipp\ Film Writer Eugene Levy remembers reading the script for the first “American Pie” movie and wondering, after a few minutes, why in the world his agent sent him the thing.

“It was just a little out there for me,” Levy says. “In the first 25 pages, there’s a lot of (sexual) stuff going on. You’ve got people reading a manual trying to figure out oral sex. And I’m thinking, ‘OK, maybe I’m getting a little old for this stuff.’ ” Five years and three movies later, Levy is obviously a convert, as are Universal Pictures and a whole lot of grown-ups who love the “Pie” movies, even though they, too, might be a little old for this stuff. In fact, the series, opening its third entry, “American Wedding,” on Friday, has defied conventional wisdom by becoming more popular as time passes. Not bad for a movie that began as a low- budget flier, something Universal hoped to make a buck or two on after it went to video.

“They didn’t know what the hell they had when they bought this script,” says Adam Herz, who has sole writing credit on all three “Pie” movies. “We were $10 million. That’s lunch to them. It wasn’t until about halfway through, when the dailies started coming in, that people started saying, ‘Hey, this actually looks pretty funny.’ And then after the first test screening, the marketing people looked at the numbers and said, ‘Holy (moly)! What’d you guys do? They love it.’ ” What people have loved about the movies goes beyond the risque. Jason Biggs having carnal relations with a hot apple pie can only go so far, after all. “The ‘American Pie’ movies succeed where many other comedies aimed at the youth market falter,” offers New York Times film critic A.O. Scott. “They manage to be both lewd and sweet, exploiting the natural prurience of young people while implicitly comforting their raging anxieties.” It’s a neat trick, one that few teen sex comedies have ever pulled off. “American Pie” opened in July 1999 to surprisingly good reviews and a shocking $102.5 at the box office. “American Pie 2″ came two years later, grossing $145 million. And even in a summer of sequel burnout, expectations for “American Wedding” remain pretty high. The movies have also been huge on home video, so much so that while they were making “American Wedding,” the filmmakers shot several scenes exclusively for the DVD. (“I think we’re the first movie to script and shoot scenes that would specifically add value to the DVD,” Herz says.) Universal has also just re-released the first two films on DVD, each set containing a new “Beneath the Crust” disc with behind-the-scenes material. go to web site essing wedding invitations

As you might guess from the title, “American Wedding” centers on a marriage ceremony, although not the one Herz originally had in mind. When he pitched the story to Universal, he proposed that the series’ raging id(iot), Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), be the groom. The studio said, “Great, go write it,” and Herz and producer Chris Bender followed their usual routine, going to a spa in Ojai, locking the door to their room for two days and hashing out the plot.

“At the end of day one, we were miserable,” Herz says. “At the end of day two, we figured out the wedding had to be Jim (Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). So then I went back to the studio and said, ‘I hope you’re not pissed, but it’s going to be Jim and Michelle’s wedding now.’ ‘Fine, what’s going to happen?’ ‘Well, um, Stifler’s going to (have sex with) grandma.’ That was pretty much all I had. They had faith that I’d come up with something else besides the wedding and Stifler having sex with grandma.” Herz did, following the rules he has always abided by in the series: 1) Something goes horribly wrong with Jim’s genitals; 2) Stifler has to eat or drink something wretched; 3) the women are always in power – and when they aren’t, the guys are punished; 4) guys are stupid, especially when it comes to sex; 5) Jim has to have some embarrassing talks with his well-meaning dad (Levy); and 6) Stifler’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) shows up at the end. Also, since there was a wedding, a bachelor party (planned by Stifler, of course) was a no-brainer.

That Herz’s script worked so well seemed to surprise the actors, most of whom figured there couldn’t be another slice of “American Pie” that wasn’t, um, half-baked. (For Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari and Natasha Lyonne, there wasn’t any at all because Herz couldn’t figure out any good scenarios for their characters.) “It’s amazing to be part of something that our kids will hear about and probably be in therapy for,” Hannigan says. Herz says the movies will stop here, although he says a television series – “American Pie: The Next Generation” – might be a possibility. Cast members jokingly throw out suggestions for a fourth film (Hannigan: “American Baby,” Scott: “American Divorce,” Biggs: “American Mistress”), but it’s clear they’re all fine about moving on. this web site essing wedding invitations

Everyone except Levy.

“I do think this is actually the last one, but I can see an ‘American Christmas,’ with the families coming together,” Levy says. “You’d have to have the camaraderie of the group, but I think with this franchise, you can go every which way. As long as they’re making them, I will do them. I love these movies.” Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com Steve Stifler is The Man With apologies to Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicoli, teen sex comedies have a new king: Steve Stifler.

What began as a bit part in the first “American Pie” movie has mushroomed into one of the great raging doofuses in screen history. “American Wedding” may be about the nuptials of Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), but it’s Stifler (the great Seann William Scott) who time and time again steals the show.

We love Stifler because he has no censor. He says what he feels and acts upon his impulses. And it doesn’t come from meanness or spite, but simply because he can be no other way. He believes he is The Man, and if you don’t agree, he will work overtime to prove to you the error of your ways.

In the summer’s funniest movie scene, Stifler enters a gay bar – only, of course, he doesn’t know it’s a gay bar. The joke has been done a million times and, at first, it runs its course predictably: Stifler acts stupid, the realization of his surroundings slowly dawns on him, and the bar’s clientele call out Stifler for being a dork.

But after shrinking away with his tail between his legs, Stifler reappears on the dance floor, moving furiously to the beat of Michael Sembello’s “Maniac.” What follows is a manic dance-off between Stifler and the leather-clad Bear (Eric Allen Kramer) to a medley of ’80s classics: Bananarama’s “Venus,” Duran Duran’s “Reflex,” the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” In the end, Stifler is triumphant. He is not a dork. He is The Man.

Sorry, Spicoli. Your reign is over.

- G.W.

Glenn Whipp\ Film Writer