by Eric M. Croas

It is often said that things change when a couple get married, and with American Wedding, that seems to be the case for the last film in the American Pie trilogy.

The film starts with Jim (Jason Biggs) preparing to propose to Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), and just like the first two films, the big moment turns into an extremely funny moment between Jim and his father. Even with the humor in that scene, it still seems to have a different feel to it than the first two movies.

Upon Michelle’s acceptance of his proposal, Jim begins to make plans to give his fiancée her dream wedding, and they both decide to have a short engagement so that Jim’s grandmother will be able to attend. Short equates to two weeks, and in that time, Jim recruits his friends Finch, Kevin and even Stifler to help him prepare.

Here's another aspect of the film that did not seem to have the same feel. Kevin is almost non-existent in this film in terms of character development or involvement, Finch does not seem to carry the same air of sophistication and Stifler is too over-the-top even for Stifler.

Even though the character development is not as strong as the previous films, the gags and jokes in this movie definitely make it one worth seeing. The first few jokes try too hard to be funny, but as the film picks up momentum, so do the gags. Without giving away too much, I certainly recommend watching for Jim’s special grooming, Stifler’s special snack and also his great rendezvous at the hotel. For the males in the audience, the bachelor party scene is certainly one not to be missed.

Extras on the film include some funny deleted scenes and outtakes, a featurette that shows Sean William Scott creating the impromptu “Stifler Speak,” a funny behind-the-scenes featurette on creating Jim’s special grooming scene, another behind-the-scenes featurette on the bachelor party scene and more.

Eric M. Croas

Featurettes:
Grooming the Groom Featurette: Visual Effects:7 minute featurette that examines the behind-the-scenes work put into the "special hair cut" scene.
Enter the Dominatrix: Inside the Bachelor Party Featurette: 10 minute featurette with behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes of the bachelor party scene with comments from cast. Also contains plenty of topless women.
Audio Commentaries:
Director Commentary: Features director Jesse Dylan and actor Sean William Scott. Not so much a discussion of the production of the film as it is a discussion of what Scott wanted the film to be.
Actor Commentary: With Jason Biggs; Alyson Hannigan; Eddie Kaye Thomas and Thomas Ian Nicholas.
Deleted Scenes: Herz discusses why each scene was originally written and why the decision was made to cut it..

Outtakes: Contains ad-libs, and line flubs. Some actually made it into the final cut.
Stifler Speak Translater: An ad-lib series of lines by Sean William Scott, complete with profanity.
Nikki's Hollywood Journal: The camera follows Nikki Ziering around during the film's premiere. Everything from clothing choices to make up application are revealed
Wedding Video: 3 minute short containing footage of the film made to look like a wedding video.
DVD-Rom Features: