American Wedding (2003)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Jesse Dylan

Writers (WGA):

Adam Herz (characters)
Adam Herz (written by)

Release Date:

1 August 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

This time they're going all the way.

Plot:

The third film in the American Pie series deals with the wedding of Jim and Michelle and the gathering of their families and friends, including Jim's old friends from high school and Michelle's little sister.

Plot Keywords:

Lost Trousers | Sexy Fiancée | Pubic Hair | Strip | Horse Whip

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Jason Biggs	...	Jim Levenstein
Seann William Scott	...	Steve Stifler
Alyson Hannigan	...	Michelle Flaherty
Eddie Kaye Thomas	...	Paul Finch
Thomas Ian Nicholas	...	Kevin Myers
January Jones	...	Cadence Flaherty
Eugene Levy	...	Jim's Dad
Molly Cheek	...	Jim's Mom
Deborah Rush	...	Mary Flaherty
Fred Willard	...	Harold Flaherty
Angela Paton	...	Grandma
Eric Allan Kramer	...	Bear (as Eric Allen Kramer)
Amanda Swisten	...	Fraulein Brandi
Nikki Schieler Ziering	...	Officer Krystal
Lawrence Pressman	...	Head Coach

Also Known As:

American Pie: The Wedding (Australia) (Europe: English title) (Singapore: English title) (South Africa: English title) (UK)
American Pie - Jetzt wird geheiratet (Germany)
American Pie 3 (USA) (working title)
American Pie 3: Piece of Pie (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, language and crude humor.

Runtime:

96 min | Turkey:74 min (TV version) | USA:103 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Malaysia:18PL (re-rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) (uncut version) | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Denmark:A | Finland:K-11 | Finland:K-15 (extended version) | France:Unrated | Germany:12 (original rating) | Germany:16 (extended version) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12 | Ireland:15PG (original rating) | Ireland:15 (video rating) | Israel:16 | Italy:VM14 | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) (cut) | Spain:13 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #39504) | USA:Unrated (unrated DVD version) | Greece:K-13

Filming Locations:

Chapman University - One University Drive, Orange, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Seann William Scott's agents were reluctant to show the script to the actor, certain he would turn it down. Turns out that they were worried for nothing because after he read it, he agreed to do the movie.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Though shot in 2003, the Chicago nighttime fly-by for the trip to find the dressmaker was most likely taken from stock film shot in between 1996-'98. The Stone Container Building (the diamond topped building) has a red border sporting "Go Bulls", something that hasn't been done since that championship time period.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jim: Well, Michelle, we did it. Happy graduation.

Movie Connections:

References Casablanca (1942)

Soundtrack:

Swing, Swing

If you liked the other two then you'll like this one despite it being a weak end to the trilogy

Despite an embarrassing scene at a restaurant, Jim proposes to his long-time girlfriend Michelle. For their wedding Jim enlists the help of Finch and Kevin to make everything smooth – and keep Stifler out of the way. However a ceremony is hard work and is made harder when things just always seem to go wrong and when Stifler seems to be determined to f**k the bride's sister – even if it means pretending to be mild mannered and polite.

Trying to think about this film or the series itself is like trying to argue with mud, basically you just need to accept that this is a silly, stupid gross out comedy that relies on poor taste jokes and unlikely set ups. If this is a problem for you then don't watch it. If you have accepted it and are watching it then it all comes down to, is it a GOOD gross out comedy with poor taste jokes? As much as I know I should be above it, I did laugh at the other 2 films and was happy to go and see this and, for the most part, I laughed at this. However this was the weakest of the three and the silence in the cinema was quite often uncomfortable – usually silence in a cinema is a good thing, but this was often an uncomfortable `I should be laughing more' type of silence.

In my review of part 2 I said `lets not do a 3'. Watching this I'm sort of glad they managed to do it but I can see the strain despite their best efforts. The main set up sequences are gross and funny but the gaps between are where the silence comes, there ain't enough comedy to cover the whole film. I'm not talking about the sweet stuff near the end, I just talking about all the scenes between the banner scenes. Plus the sequences are very forced at times (many you can see coming for miles), but this isn't too bad as they still manage to be hilariously gross! For those who like the nudity (and who didn't like the bi-sexual teasing scene from part 2?) there is a long sequence of strippers with large fake breasts, if that's your thing (I'm a man, so yes!) which is funny but also serves up the mandatory t&a. There are also some scenes that are TOO forced – eg the dance in the gay bar is funny but is too long and feels like a good idea with average delivery.

The film bravely loses something like half the cast and makes the film better in that regard. In fact Kevin has so little to do that they could have lost his character all together. However this is offset by the change to Stifler. In the first 2 he is obnoxious and rude but he is also the brunt of more jokes than he is the punisher. In the first half here, he is very rude and annoying and you hate him for how he treats his friends. That makes all his early antics hard to laugh at because now all you can see is a jerk hurting people. In the second half this is less of an issue as he changes a little and gets what's coming to him (and how!). I have a theory that Scott knows he has been pigeon holed in this role and is desperate to get out of it – in fact when I saw Bullet Proof Monk I did think to myself that he is just playing a kung-fu Stifler. Knowing this I think he played Stifler at full volume so that his next role would be nowhere near this performance. Thus he has a weird crazed sneer on his face, he is ultra cruel and rude and is a real jerk – hard to laugh with (but luckily still easy to laugh at).

The rest of the cast do quite well. Biggs manages to make more of his role than the victim and is sensitive when he needs to be – I think it will be hard for him to shake off Jim (pardon the pun) but he shows he can do acting when he needs to. Hannigan's innocent girlie voice is a little grating now and doesn't sit with her image as a woman – it suited her to be a geek. Luckily she doesn't have that much to do after the funny opening scene. Thomas is OK but Nicholas just kind of hangs around with a half smile of his face and nothing to do. Levy is still brillant as Jim's Dad but misses his `awkward moment' relationship (which they give him with Michelle to repeat it). Jones is eye candy and the return of Stifler's Mon (forget her name) is pointless and a mistake that is happily kept to a few moments.

Overall this is as poor a film as you expect – rude, in poor taste, lacking a strong plot or performances, but none of these things are really fair comments as the film still manages to be funny. The character of Stifler makes the first half very hard to enjoy and there are too many bits that don't work or where I didn't laugh but I still laughed. Many viewers will feel that the series has simply fizzled out despite it still being funny.