American Wedding (a.k.a. American Pie : The Wedding overseas) is the 2003 sequel to the comedy films American Pie (1999) and American Pie 2 (2001). It was written by Adam Herz and directed by Jesse Dylan. The story has the friends from the first two films getting together again, this time to celebrate the wedding of Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). The film was released in the United States on August 1, 2003, and grossed $104 million in the USA and $123 million overseas on a budget of $55 million. The film is notable for the absences for most of its supporting characters from the first two films, including: Oz (Chris Klein), Sherman (Chris Owen), Heather (Mena Suvari), Vicky (Tara Reid), Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), and Jessica (Natasha Lyonne). It is also the first (and only) film in the series to be shot in 2.35 format aspect ratio. Taglines: This time they're going all the way. and in Europe, He's finally taking her up the aisle. Forever hold your piece. Jim and Michelle are set to be wed, but Jim worries that the wedding will be a disaster. Michelle's parents hate him after an accidental scene in which Jim appears to be having sex with their two dogs. Michelle's wedding dress is made by only one designer working for one store, so Jim sets out to find the dress maker for her. And Jim can't dance, but salvation comes in the form of Stifler, who took dance lessons. However, Stifler only teaches Jim to dance on the condition he allow Stifler to attend the wedding (Jim and Michelle had planned to leave Stifler in the dark about the whole event), and that he get to plan the bachelor party. Michelle's sister Cadence attends the wedding, and Finch is quickly attracted to her. Sadly, so is Stifler. Upon hearing that Cadence is hoping to attract a decent guy, Stifler adopts a more meek attitude and acts like Finch, and avoids swearing and speaks of philosophy and art, mostly just quoting things Finch has said in the past. But when Finch realizes that Cadence is beginning to tire of the intellectual Stifler, Finch acts rude, crude, and perverted: in other words, like Stifler. However, Cadence begins to catch on that her two suitors are acting like each other, so the question of who she'll choose becomes more complicated. In the end however, Stifler kills the flowers the night before the wedding, and actually feels bad about it, prompting him to bring in the football team he coaches to set up the entire chapel with new flowers. Cadence chooses Stifler, and Finch admits that Stifler was probably better for her. Stifler, angry that he can't hate Finch after such a noble remark, is quickly reminded that Finch did sleep with his mother... twice. The film features another trademark infamous scene like the first two films. Stifler is charged with taking care of the bride's wedding band, but he accidentally feeds it to a dog. Waiting for the dog to defecate, Stifler retrieves the ring in a chocolate wrapper and goes to wash it, but is intercepted by Michelle's mother. Mistaking the by-product for a truffle, Michelle's mother attempts to eat it, giving Stifler no other choice but to eat it himself to save face. Later, during the ceremony, Stifler takes a moment to quickly sniff the ring before handing it to Jim. In a second scene, Jim's grandmother disapproves of Jim marrying a non-Jew, and refused to let the wedding go on. (In reality, Biggs [whose character is Jewish] is Catholic and Hannigan [whose character is Catholic] is Jewish on her mother's side.) The two men charged with watching her leave her in a linen closet, just as Cadence invites Stifler to said closet. Arriving there, Stifler mistakes Jim's grandmother for Cadence, and has sex with her. When Finch and Kevin open the door and light up the closet, Stifler is horrified. However, this proves a blessing in disguise, and she no longer cares about who Jim marries, and spends the ceremony winking and flirting with Stifler. Upon Michelle asking what made her so happy, Jim replies "Finch said Stifler talked to her." The film's soundtrack includes songs by Blue October, The Working Title, Foo Fighters, American Hi-Fi, Sum 41, the All-American Rejects and Hot Action Cop. Note that most songs used were already singles. And, this is the first film to feature the song "Laid" in both the trailers and the opening sequence. |