American Pie 2
Amerikanski pai
Starring: Jason Biggs, Tara Reid, Chris Klein, Sean William Scott, Eddie Kaye Thomas
Directed by: J.B. Rogers
Running time: One hour and 55 minutes

Now there is a film that wears proudly and unashamedly the commercial mission on its sleeve and is still enjoyable.

This is the case because American Pie 2 cares for its characters, even in the most horrendous sexual predicaments they fall into. One can laugh at the film and its cheerful tastelessness too, because it never tries to do what other American Pie-spawned films tried - to go one better in terms of the level of the embarrassment of the original. The sequel follows a simpler, and, for that matter, a wiser approach - it diligently emulates the formula set by American Pie - likable kids in outrageously infantile explorations of their sexuality.

The entire cast of the original participates here, as one can assume taking part in a sequel was a clause in their contracts, and we are all the better for it. Jimbo (Jason Biggs) is the embarrassment champion again - he and his supportive father manage to turn into an embarrassing farce the friendly goodbye with his new girlfriend, he is taken to hospital for an extremely humiliating reason which I will not disclose, he is mistaken for a retarded trombone player and what have you. He is joined for a wild summer by old buddies Oz, Stifler and Kevin.

Each one of them is involved in a strange predicament, which reflects a different facet of the teenager's acquaintance with sex. One can be sure that any teenager will find an adequate onscreen projection of him/herself.

In a concise retelling of "Some Kind of Wonderful," Jimbo unexpectedly finds true love while chasing the woman of his life. Kevin learns what being friends with a former girlfriend feels like.

The movie is cruelest to Stifler (Seann William Scott), the representative of the confident-hunter type who is humbled by an unexpected meeting with a body fluid he thinks is champagne, and this serves as a poetic warning for those wanting to play bad jokes on the people around them. Otherwise, despite the embarrassment that lurks in every scene, the film breathes feel-good.

Still, I am still not sure that American Pie 2 is less cruel to its characters than its predecessor; nor am I sure that this is the reason why viewers are more willing to tolerate humiliation in this film. It might be as well that we have tuned our standards to Hollywood's fixation for gross humour, the type that made films like Meet the Parents and Tomcats hard to bear.

It might be just as well that the film is trying to persuade us that wallowing in debts of humiliation are legitimate rites of passage that make us stronger - as Jimbo's improbable understanding and supportive dad claims he is proud of his son in a situation where pride is the least likeliest emotion to be evoked.

That said, I must note that such messages do not always ring true. The film's story threads the thin line between fun and irritation, that was mastered in Faulty Towers and not in Meet the Parents, and crosses it on a couple of occasions. Feel free to locate those yourselves, because their presence should not put you off from seeing a film that you can laugh at. It can be either comforting or disturbing to feel that you have become cruel as you laugh at things that should provoke intense sympathy. It is weird feeling not to be missed!