While the characters in “The Graduate,” “American Graffiti” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” spoke to young Americans in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s respectively, they have remained static oracles confined to one celluloid appearance.

But “American Pie” won the hearts and minds of youth in the ’90s and has managed to age its characters in sync with its audience so that the relationship may continue. And so, four years after Jim Levinstein (Jason Biggs), Steve Stiffler (Sean William Scott), Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) graduated high school and awkwardly fumbled their way through senior prom, the group is now graduating college and awkwardly fumbling its way through a marriage in “American Wedding.”

Jim is marrying Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan), his nerdy prom date with a fetish for flutes. And while Jim’s father (Eugene Levy) and mother (Molly Cheek) have become well acquainted with Jim’s friends and their knack for landing in bizarre situations, Michelle’s arrogantly naíve parents will be getting their first impressions.

The subplots of “American Wedding” invite the sort of uproarious humor that you would expect from a film with such comic lineage. But such side stories also facilitate the continuing maturity of the film’s vulnerable core of central characters.

Stiffler and Finch have taken a liking to Michelle’s virgin kid sister, Cadence (January Jones). Each disguise their true persona and, ironically, start displaying traits of each other in strained attempts at winning Cadence’s heart.

This, of course, means that Stiffler must begin to show a soft side that he has only hinted at in the past. But between his pursuit of Cadence and the dancing lessons he agrees to give Jim, the third dimension of his once-strictly-comedic character comes into full bloom. While Stiffler was denied a coming-of-age epiphany on prom night four years ago, “American Wedding” brings him up to par with the rest of the pack.

This is not to say, however, that Jim and his friends do not find themselves in their usual situations of humorous trouble. Jim, once again, is publicly humiliated by some private explorations of his nether region. Stiffler takes a cue from Divine in “Pink Flamingos” and digests a dog’s least appetizing residue. And the whole group finds itself in a deliciously awkward conundrum as it tries to hide two strippers and a scantily clad, flaming homosexual from Michelle’s conservative parents.

Some of the key characters from the first two films do not make return appearances, however. Heather, Oz, Vicki, Nadia and Jessica are all missing from this third installment. And while their absence was probably not an intentional move on the part of the filmmakers, the smaller group proves beneficial as it allows for more in-depth character development.

With Jim now wed and Stiffler finally approaching a level of respectable maturity, “American Wedding” may well be the final installment in a series of films that helped teach a generation how to laugh at poignancy and still get the message. But hopefully there will be more to come; it would be a shame if this really is “Bye bye, Miss American Pie.”

Grade: A/B