I have had “reunions” with several of my high school friends. They are fascinating affairs. People who loved their time relive their glory days and people who didn’t try to show up their tormenters with the progress they have made. Such a situation is presented in American Reunion, the latest installment from the American Pie team. While they manage to deliver some heartfelt and nostalgic moments, it lacks the fresh comedy that made the original so fun. Unfortunately, like R rated comedies since the first American movie, adulthood has caught up with these guys.
With the East Great Falls Reunion coming up, our favorite teens have settled into their lives. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are wearily married with kids, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) has been backpacking through Europe, Oz (Chris Klein, apparently OK he wasn’t invited to the American Wedding) is a B list celebrity on a dancing with the stars show, Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is in a steady relationship, and Stifler (Seann William Scott) is in a state of arrested development at a temp job for a company. With the reunion in town, these pals have to deal with old flames (Mena Suvari and Tara Reid), new temptations, and secrets.
Character development is at a minimum so the cast can take the obvious joke. There are plenty of penises, boobs, and body fluids tossed around. Unfortunately, they don’t connect their targets enough of the time. The jokes that get the best laughs come from Stifler and Oz, but they lack the ingenuity of the internet strip on the first Pie movie. Part of the reason is the lazy writing, but the other part is that R rated comedies have pushed the envelope beyond a simple sex joke. While the characters got older, the script remains juvenile.
The bright spots in the movie are the dramatic moments, which deliver because we have gotten to know and care about these characters. The movie does wonderful things with Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) and how he deals with the loss of his wife, as well as the complicated emotions of reconnecting with people with which you share a power, and more rose-colored past. It even gives Stifler some little victories in the battle with Finch. I would have loved to see a more dramatic telling of this story with little bits of comedy thrown in.
Now that the reunion is over, it is hard to see where the American gang will head to next. They always talk about taking the next step: hopefully it’s not American Geriatrics. That is not the goal of this movie however. Through rose colored glasses, it gives us a look back at a time that most of us will think upon fondly. Like Jim, Michelle, Oz, Stifler, Kevin, Finch, Jim’s Dad, Stifler’s Mom, Vicky, and Heather, hopefully we enjoyed our slice of pie.