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American Wedding

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American Wedding
The infamous pie from the first movie takes the place of a traditional wedding cake, providing a series in-joke. Stifler's position behind Jim on the poster represents the character's ascended prominence in the film.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJesse Dylan
Written byAdam Herz
Based onCharacters
by Adam Herz
Produced byChris Moore
Warren Zide
Craig Perry
Adam Herz
Chris Bender
StarringJason Biggs
Alyson Hannigan
January Jones
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Seann William Scott
Eddie Kaye Thomas
Fred Willard
Eugene Levy
CinematographyLloyd Ahern
Edited byStuart Pappé
Music byChristophe Beck
Production
companies
LivePlanet
Zide/Perry Productions
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01)[1]
Running time
96 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$55 million[3]
Box office$232.7 million[4]

American Wedding (known as American Pie 3: The Wedding or American Pie: The Wedding, in some countries) is a 2003 American sex comedy film written by Adam Herz and directed by Jesse Dylan. It is the sequel to American Pie (1999) and American Pie 2 (2001), and the third of the American Pie franchise.

The film's main plot focuses on the wedding ceremony of Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan), while its subplot centers on Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott), and his outrageous antics including his attempt to organize a bachelor party, teaching Jim to dance for the wedding, and competing with Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) to win the heart of Michelle's sister, Cadence (January Jones). It is the last film in the series to be written by Herz, who conceptualized the franchise, and also the only theatrical film in the series in which Chris Klein (Oz), Chris Owen (Sherman), Mena Suvari (Heather), Tara Reid (Vicky), Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia) and Natasha Lyonne (Jessica) do not appear.

Released on August 1, 2003, American Wedding is the lowest-grossing installment in the theatrical American Pie film series, although it was still a box office success, grossing $232.7 million worldwide on a $55 million budget. Like the previous two films, American Wedding received mixed reviews from critics, who were again divided on its humor but praised the cast's performances, especially Scott's.[5]

The franchise was later expanded into a series of direct-to-DVD standalone spin-offs, under the umbrella title American Pie Presents, that began with the release of Band Camp (2005). A direct sequel to Wedding, titled American Reunion, was released in 2012.

Plot

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In East Great Falls, Michigan, in a restaurant, Jim Levenstein hints to his girlfriend Michelle that he is about to propose, until his dad calls to inform him he left the ring at home. Michelle misinterprets Jim's hints and performs fellatio on him under the table as his dad arrives with the ring and the pair are publicly exposed. Despite the awkwardness, Michelle accepts Jim's proposal.

Jim and Michelle exclude their acquaintance, the boorish and vulgar Steven Stifler, from the wedding plans, but he notices the celebration party while passing and insists on taking part, seeing an opportunity to have sex with the bridesmaids. Jim agrees to let Stifler join in exchange for teaching Jim to dance so he can surprise Michelle. Stifler, Jim, and his friends Paul Finch and Kevin Myers, travel to Chicago to secure Michelle's dream wedding dress, and trace the designer to a gay bar. Stifler's insecurity around homosexuals annoys the patrons, but he wins them over during a dance off with a large gay man called Bear. Entertained, Bear offers to provide strippers for Jim's bachelor party, while the dress designer agrees to make Michelle's dress.

Michelle's younger sister, Cadence, returns to Michigan for the wedding after breaking up with her boyfriend because he would not take her virginity. Hoping to win Cadence over, Stifler acts refined and intelligent like Finch, while Finch acts like Stifler, and Cadence takes a liking to them both. Meanwhile, Jim begins to have doubts about marriage, worried that he has only ever been with one woman. His father's awkward reassurances fail to convince Jim. Stifler, Finch, and Kevin break into Jim's parents house to surprise Jim with the bachelor party and Bear's strippers, unaware Jim is bringing Michelle's parents over for dinner. The boys conceal the party from Michelle's parents until her mother finds a stripped and bound Kevin in the closet. They convince her parents that it is an elaborate plot to impress them by portraying Jim as a hero who rescues Kevin.

In Grand Traverse County, Michigan, wedding preparations are underway despite mishaps when Jim's shaved pubic hair is sucked into a kitchen vent, destroying the wedding cake, his grandmother expresses dislike for Michelle not being jewish, and Stifler accidentally feeds the wedding ring to a dog. Cadence admits she likes Stifler but questions if he is pretending to be different around her. After Cadence agrees to sleep with Stifler, he steals a bottle of champagne from the kitchen, inadvertently turning off the cold room and killing the wedding flowers within. Jim and Michelle demand Stifler leaves, supported by Cadence, who has learned of his true personality and intentions.

Feeling guilty, Stifler works through the night to convince the florist to put together new floral displays, and enlists the help of his high school football team players and Bear. Seeing the new display, Michelle and Jim forgive Stifler, and Cadence reconciles with him, seeing he does genuinely care about his friends, and agrees to have sex with him in a supply closet before the wedding. Stifler is delayed by Jim, who thanks him, Finch, and Kevin for their help and support over the years. Unaware that Cadence was also delayed, Stifler enters the dark closet and has sex with someone, revealed to be Jim's grandmother, who was put there by ushers because of her unlikable personality. Jim's grandmother becomes more pleasant afterward to the delight of Jim's dad and Michelle. Struggling to convey her feelings through her vows, Michelle asks Jim's dad for help, who explains that love is not just a feeling, but the actions they do for each other; she happily thanks and calls him dad.

Michelle and Jim get married and share their first dance together, privately acknowledging their shared awkwardness and perversions that make them perfect for each other. Stifler dances with Cadence, while the rejected Finch sits alone until Stifler's mom arrives. Though agreeing they are over each other following their previous trysts,[a] they both retire to her room.

Cast

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Production

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The outdoor wedding scene was filmed at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay near San Francisco.[6]

Soundtrack

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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. Everclear, 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.

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.[citation needed] The band's lead singer Jakob Dylan is the brother of the film's director Jesse Dylan.

The film's soundtrack peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart.[7]

American Wedding
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedAugust 1, 2003
GenrePop punk, alternative rock
Length1:00:13
LabelUptown/Universal
Various Artists chronology
American Pie 2
(2001) 		American Wedding
(2003) 		American Reunion
(2012)
No.TitlePerformed byLength
1."Times Like These"Foo Fighters4:26
2."The Anthem"Good Charlotte2:55
3."Forget Everything"New Found Glory2:33
4."The Hell Song"Sum 413:19
5."Swing, Swing"The All-American Rejects3:54
6."I Don't Give"Avril Lavigne3:37
7."Laid"Matt Nathanson3:03
8."The Art of Losing"American Hi-Fi3:22
9."Fever for the Flava"Hot Action Cop4:03
10."Give Up the Grudge"Gob2:58
11."Bouncing Off The Walls"Sugarcult2:22
12."Come Back Around"Feeder3:12
13."Any Other Girl"NU3:23
14."Beloved"The Working Title4:28
15."Calling You"Blue October3:58
16."Honey and the Moon"Joseph Arthur4:44
17."Into the Mystic"The Wallflowers (Van Morrison cover)3:39

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

Songs that appear during the bachelor party:

Release

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American Wedding was released in the United States on August 1, 2003.

Home media

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American Wedding premiered on DVD and VHS on January 2, 2004.[8] It grossed $15.85 million on DVD and was the number seven DVD rental in 2004.[9]

Reception

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Box office

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American Wedding opened at #1 at the box office with $33,369,440.[10] It dropped by 53.7% the next weekend, landing at #3 behind the new releases of S.W.A.T. and Freaky Friday.[11] 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.[4] Despite being a huge box office success, it is the lowest-grossing film in the series, making roughly $3 million less than American Reunion would in 2012.

Critical receptions

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American Wedding received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, assigns the film a rating of 53%, based on 156 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Raunchier and even more gross than the first two American Pies, American Wedding ought to please fans of the series."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 43 out of 100, based on 34 critics, which indicates "mixed or average reviews".[12] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[13]

Robert Koeler of Variety compared it to the works of John Waters and called it a "strong finish" for the franchise.[14] Roger Ebert rated it 3/4 stars and wrote that the film "is proof of the hypothesis that no genre is beyond redemption."[15] Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times wrote that the film "struggles so hard to be tasteless that it's almost quaint."[16] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle rated it 2/5 stars and called it strained and desperate to find jokes.[17]

Awards and nominations

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Wins

Nominations

Sequel

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In October 2008, a fourth theatrical American Pie film was greenlit by Universal Pictures.[18] The film entered pre-production in April 2010.[19] Despite being absent from Wedding, lead ensemble cast members Chris Klein, Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, Shannon Elizabeth, and Natasha Lyonne all signed on to return for the fourth installment.[20][21]

The film, titled American Reunion, was released on April 6, 2012. Klein, Suvari, and Reid all had lead ensemble roles, whilst Lyonne and Elizabeth had cameo appearances.

Notes

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  1. ^ As depicted in American Pie (1999) and American Pie 2 (2002)

References

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  1. ^ DiOrio, Carl (2003-06-15). "H'w'd: A sequel opportunity town". Variety. Archived from the original on 2018-08-28. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  2. ^ "AMERICAN PIE: THE WEDDING (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2003-07-29. Archived from the original on 2019-04-06. Retrieved 2012-12-02.
  3. ^ McNary, Dave (2003-08-03). "'Pie' pals humble Jen & Ben". Variety. Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  4. ^ a b "American Wedding (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  5. ^ a b "American Wedding (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  6. ^ "Filming Locations for American Wedding (American Pie 3) (2003)". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  7. ^ "American Wedding - Original Soundtrack - Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  8. ^ Patrizio, Andy (October 16, 2003). "American Wedding Menu Screen Shots". IGN. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "Year End 2004 Top-renting VHS titles". Variety. 2004-12-30. Archived from the original on 2017-02-11. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  10. ^ Linder, Brian (August 4, 2003). "Weekend Box Office: Wedding Bliss". IGN. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  11. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for August 8-10, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2017-02-12. Retrieved 2012-01-14.
  12. ^ "American Wedding". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2023-05-29. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  13. ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-01-02. Retrieved 2023-06-30.
  14. ^ Koehler, Robert (2003-08-03). "Review: 'American Wedding'". Variety. Archived from the original on 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  15. ^ Ebert, Roger (2003-08-01). "American Wedding". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  16. ^ Mitchell, Elvis (2003-08-01). "'American Pie' Reaches for a Wedding Cake". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-11-06. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  17. ^ LaSalle, Mick (2003-08-01). "'American Wedding' is a pie in the face to its once-funny premise". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  18. ^ "Universal Eyeing American Pie 4?". /Film. 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-08-18. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  19. ^ "'Kumar' creators for 'American Pie 4'". Digital Spy. 2 April 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  20. ^ "Reunion On 'American Reunion' Complete: Shannon Elizabeth Signs For Fourquel". Deadline. 27 May 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
  21. ^ "Natasha Lyonne joins 'American Reunion'". Digital Spy. 13 July 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
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