2003, R, 102 minutes

This one time, at the movie theater, a little movie was released called American Pie. Nobody expected much out of it, but it became one of the suprise hits of the summer, grossing over $100 million. It was sweet, crude, and downright hilarious all at the same time. Of course, a sequel was mandatory, and while it wasn't nearly as good as the first, American Pie 2 managed to have me rolling on the floor all the way through as well. Now we have American Wedding, the latest American Pie that's just as delicious as the first two.

Oz, Heather, Sherman, and foreign exchange student Nadia don't show up for this installment, but the rest of the characters are as loveable as ever. Jim (Jason Biggs) wants to settle down and marry band camp girl Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), and after the hilarious proposal, she accepts. Jim plans to throw the wedding of a lifetime for Michelle, but uninvited guest Stifler (Seann William Scott) threatens to ruin the whole thing. However, he tries to play a nice, calm guy when he meets Michelle's younger sister, Cadence (January Jones). Also along for this wild ride are Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Jim's Dad (Eugene Levy), and Michelle's parents (Deborah Rush and Fred Willard).

Despite this being Jim and Michelle's wedding, they don't get the majority of the screentime. Because of the soaring popularity of Seann William Scott, Stifler gets the biggest role. He's just as obnoxious and goofy as ever, and all the hijinks - whether he's trying to impress Cadence or trying to hide the bachelor party from Michelle's parents - are all hilarious. Scott is a very talented comedian, and he puts his skills to full use here.

American Wedding also manages to retain that sweet charm that I loved about the first two. Most of the gross-out comedies these days are made just to be crude, but that's not a statement I'd associate with the American Pie movies. These movies realize that caring about the characters is an important part about enjoying a film, and they have all been able to maintain that while still providing frequent doses of laughter. There's not a bad comic portrayal to be found in this movie - from Jason Biggs as the inept Jim, or Eugene Levy and his deadpan performance as Jim's understanding dad, who tells Jim a little more than he needs to know about his love life.

Would I take another slice of this pie? As long as the filmmakers keep the aspects of the first three movies, I'd love to have a fourth slice. American Wedding is the funniest movie I've seen all year, and it provides a great night out at the movies.