American Pie 2

Comedy

Jason Biggs|Shannon Elizabeth|Alyson Hannigan|Chris Klein
Seann William Scott	Steve Stifler
Tara Reid	Victoria Lathum
Jason Biggs	Jim Levinstein
Eugene Levy	Mr. Levinstein
Shannon Elizabeth	Nadia
Alyson Hannigan	Michelle Flaherty
Chris Klein	Chris Oz Ostreicher
Thomas Ian Nicholas	Kevin Myers
Natasha Lyonne	Jessica
Mena Suvari	Heather

Director	James B. Rogers
Producer	Chris Moore; Craig Perry
Writer	Adam Herz; David H. Steinberg

Sometimes you just don't need to change the recipe. Like its predecessor, American Pie 2 is superficially full of gross-out laddishness, but there's a moral tale lurking beneath all the jokes about masturbation, voyeurism and men's sexual prowess--or their lack of it. Jim (Jason Biggs) spends his first summer home from college trying to get himself ready for Nadia, the Czech woman he almost slept with in the first film. He goes to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), his actual first partner, for pointers on technique--and learns lessons he did not expect. His friends--Finch, Oz, Kevin and the appalling Stiffler--are similarly educated during their summer vacation. This is a film that boasts many profoundly dirty jokes, but gets away with this lewd, crude and rude behaviour due to its charm and charisma.

On the DVD: the DVD is packed with special features, including commentaries by director James B Rogers, writer Adam Herz and various cast members as well as an outtakes section, some deleted scenes and a music video. There's a standard "making of" ("baking of") feature with some likable cast interviews that stress the friendliness of the set. There are subtitle options in English and Hindi, and the feature is presented in an anamorphic widescreen ratio of 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound that does justice to both the raucously loud rock score and the sparky dialogue. --Roz Kaveney