American Wedding

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American Wedding
American Wedding movie.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jesse Dylan
Produced by Chris Moore
Warren Zide
Craig Perry
Adam Herz
Chris Bender
Paul Weitz
Chris Weitz
Written by Adam Herz
Based on Characters 
by Adam Herz
Starring Jason Biggs
Seann William Scott
Alyson Hannigan
Eddie Kaye Thomas
Thomas Ian Nicholas
January Jones
Fred Willard
Eugene Levy
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography Lloyd Ahern
Editing by Stuart Pappé
Studio LivePlanet
Zide/Perry Productions
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s)
  • August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01)
Running time 96 minutes[1]
Country United States
Germany
Language English
Budget $55 million
Box office $231,449,203[2]

American Wedding (known as American Pie: The Wedding, in some countries) is a 2003 American romantic comedy film and a sequel to American Pie and American Pie 2 as part of the American Pie theatrical series. It was written by Adam Herz and directed by Jesse Dylan. Another sequel, American Reunion, was released nine years later. This also stands as the last film in the series to be written by Herz, who conceptualized the franchise.

Though the film mainly focuses on the union of Jim Levenstein and Michelle Flaherty, for the first time in the series, the story centers around Steve Stifler, and his outrageous antics including his attempt to organize a bachelor party, teaching Jim to dance for the wedding, and competing with Finch to win the heart of Michelle's lovely sister, Cadence.

Contents

Plot [edit]

 This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2012)

Jim Levenstein asks girlfriend Michelle Flaherty to marry him, following an embarrassing incident in a restaurant involving fellatio under the table. Michelle readily agrees.

Kevin Myers and Paul Finch serve as groomsmen, while the 'MILF' Guys - John and Justin - proclaim themselves as ushers. Unfortunately, the gang's obnoxious friend Steve Stifler crashes the couple's engagement party. The gang tries to keep the wedding a secret from Stifler, fearing he might ruin everything but after he finds out about it, he instantly comes up with an idea to throw Jim a bachelor party.

The wedding dress Michelle finally settles on after long hours of searching is made by only one designer working for one store, so the boys set out to find the dressmaker for her. They go to Chicago looking for "Leslie Sommers" and end up in a gay bar. Leslie (who is actually a man) agrees to make the dress, with Bear, also offering to provide strippers for Jim's bachelor party. In the meantime, Michelle's younger sister, Cadence, flies in for the wedding. Both Finch and Stifler are attracted to her, and in an effort to win her over, they each adopt the other's personality and mannerisms.

Jim is worried about dancing at the wedding, but salvation comes in the form of Stifler, who has taken dance lessons. Stifler agrees to teach Jim to dance on the condition he be allowed to attend the wedding and plan the bachelor party, with Stifler agreeing to tone down his obnoxious personality for Michelle's parents in exchange. In the meantime, Stifler arranges the party for everyone at Jim's house except Jim, who unknowingly has arranged a 'special dinner' for Michelle's parents before the wedding to explain why he will be a good husband and finally win them over. Bear introduces the three to Fraulein Brandi and Officer Krystal, who play submissive and dominant roles with them.

The party is abruptly halted by the unexpected return of Jim, Harold and Mary. With assistance from Bear, who poses as a butler named "Mr. Belvedere", Jim nearly succeeds in keeping the activities a secret, until Michelle's mother opens a closet door and is shocked to find Kevin inside, stripped to his boxers and tied to a chair (following a kinky game with the strippers). The boys explain that it was an attempt to make Jim seem like a hero that went horribly wrong, and Michelle's parents accept this explanation, and tell him that if he puts that much effort into the upcoming marriage, she can give him her blessing.

As the ceremony draws near, a series of mishaps occur, including Jim's grandmother being displeased that Michelle is not Jewish and Jim shaving his pubic hair, then disposing of it too close to a vent that causes it to be set loose all over the wedding cake. On the night before the wedding, Stifler inadvertently disrupts the walk-in refrigerator's power supply while retrieving a bottle of champagne, essentially turning it into an oven and killing the many flowers put together for the ceremony. Previously, Stifler, unaware of Cadence's presence, had revealed his true rude and obnoxious personality. Angered and stunned, Jim asks him to leave, and all the others, including Cadence, support Jim's decision.

Feeling guilty for his thoughtless behavior, Stifler convinces the local florist to put together a new batch of flowers, and he enlists the help of his football players and Bear. As a gesture of remorse, he also gives a rose to Cadence, much to the amazement of Jim and Michelle. Moved by his actions, Cadence agrees to have sex with him before the ceremony, but Stifler's presence is delayed by a brief thank-you meeting Jim calls among his groomsmen, citing how he is grateful to have friends like them to back him up when he is in need. Quickly returning to the hotel, Stifler hears someone in the supply closet and steps inside, but due to the closet's poor lighting, it is only when he gets inadvertently walked in on that Stifler realizes he's actually having sex with Jim's grandmother, who was placed in the closet by John and Justin to stop her constant complaining.

Despite the chaotic events leading up to it, Michelle and Jim eventually get married. At the reception, the newly married couple dances while Stifler dances with Cadence. Meanwhile, Finch is sitting by himself when Stifler's mom arrives. Although agreeing they are over each other, Stifler's mom mentions having a double suite and invites Finch to join her. The film ends with John and Justin spying on Stifler's mom and Finch in her suite's couple-size bathtub, having sex.

Cast [edit]

The only characters from the previous two films and the preceding film who appear in this one are: Stifler, Jim, Finch, Kevin, Michelle, the MILF guys, Stifler's Mom, and Jim's parents.

Production [edit]

Originally, there was going to be a subplot about Stifler's mom remarrying Stifler's dad, with Finch rushing to the ceremony to try to stop it. Tim Allen and Chris Penn were both attached at various points in the film's production to play the part.[citation needed]

The film is notable for the absences of several of its supporting characters from the first two films, including: Chuck "Sherminator" Sherman (Chris Owen), Heather (Mena Suvari), Vicky (Tara Reid), Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), Matt Stifler (Eli Marienthal), Jessica (Natasha Lyonne), Tom Myers (Casey Affleck), and Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein). With the exception of Nadia, none of them were mentioned at all in the film, though Oz was mentioned briefly in a deleted scene, in which his absence was explained. This is because the creators of the previous films noted it was near impossible to create interesting storylines for all of the main characters.

The wedding scenes were shot at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California.

It is also the first (and only) film in the series to be shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

Awards [edit]

Wins
Nominations

Soundtrack [edit]

The film's soundtrack includes songs by Van Morrison, Blue October, The Working Title, Foo Fighters, Feeder, Avril Lavigne, American Hi-Fi, Sum 41, the All-American Rejects, Joseph Arthur, New Found Glory, and Hot Action Cop. Badly Drawn Boy and The Libertines also have songs in the feature. Note that most songs used were already singles. And, this is the first film to feature the song "Laid" (Matt Nathanson covering the band James) in both the trailers and the opening sequence. Notably, it is also the only film in the series to not play the song "Mrs. Robinson" in a scene where Finch has sex with Stifler's mother. It is also the first of the American Pie films not to feature a blink-182 song.

The song "Into the Mystic", played at the end of the film when Jim and Michelle take to the dance floor at the reception, begins as Van Morrison's recording, but midway through it changes to The Wallflowers' cover version due to licensing reasons.

American Wedding
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released August 1, 2003
Label Uptown/Universal
Various Artists chronology
American Pie 2 Soundtrack 2001 American Wedding Soundtrack 2003 American Reunion Soundtrack 2012
No. Title Performed by Length
1. "Times Like These"   Foo Fighters  
2. "The Anthem"   Good Charlotte  
3. "Forget Everything"   New Found Glory  
4. "The Hell Song"   Sum 41  
5. "Swing, Swing"   The All-American Rejects  
6. "I Don't Give"   Avril Lavigne  
7. "Laid"   Matt Nathanson  
8. "The Art of Losing"   American Hi-Fi  
9. "Fever for the Flava"   Hot Action Cop  
10. "Give Up the Grudge"   Gob  
11. "Bouncing Off The Walls"   Sugarcult  
12. "Come Back Around"   Feeder  
13. "Any Other Girl"   NU  
14. "Beloved"   The Working Title  
15. "Calling You"   Blue October  
16. "Honey and the Moon"   Joseph Arthur  
17. "Into the Mystic"   Van Morrison  

Songs that appear during Stifler's dance in the gay bar:

Release [edit]

Box office [edit]

American Wedding was released in the United States on August 1, 2003 and opened at #1 with $33,369,440 before dropping 53.7% the next weekend, landing at #3 behind the new releases of S.W.A.T. and Freaky Friday.[3] Closing about 3.5 months later (November 20, 2003), the film had grossed a domestic total of $104,565,114 and $126,884,089 overseas for a worldwide total of $231,449,203, based on a $55 million budget.[2]

Despite being a huge box office success, it is the lowest-grossing film in the series, making roughly $2 million less than American Reunion would in 2012.

Critical response [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (July 2011)

The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 55% "Rotten" based on 146 reviews.[4]

References [edit]

  1. ^ "AMERICAN PIE: THE WEDDING (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2003-07-29. Retrieved 2012-12-02. 
  2. ^ a b "American Wedding (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
  3. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 8-10, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2012-01-14. 
  4. ^ American Wedding at Rotten Tomatoes

External links [edit]

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