American Reunion

American Reunion

There is another movie in the tired American Pie franchise, great.  Actually, American Reunion isn't that bad and it is few steps better than American Wedding.  That's not saying much, because many of the jokes fall flat.  This probably partly has to do with the directing team of Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.  However, the movie luckily doesn't fall into the same trap as the third movie of the franchise.  While the movie isn’t a complete bore, the franchise and dirty jokes seem a bit tired this time around. 

This story picks up a few years from the last one.  Jim Levenstein and his flute-shoving girlfriend are married and have a child.  They find that the sex life is suffering due to their boing lifestyles.  After a rather strange opening mirroring the masturbating scene in the first movie, we get to the meat (sorry) of the story.  The high school reunion is coming up and the American Pie gang is getting back together for more “crazy” hijinks. 

American Reunion is raunchy, but I can’t say everything works.  For every funny dirty joke, there are a few “domestic” jokes that I found rather boring.  Every time the movie focused in on Jim’s married life and his child, I found myself getting bored.  I know you have to shoehorn in some stuff for the other audience members, but it gets a little tedious.  The tries to shows that life doesn’t turn out the way we dreamed or desired, but that moral gets shoved into the background. 

Because the guys from the Harold and Kumar franchise directed this film, the jokes are a bit more uneven.  And, there isn’t really a certain plot like the first movie.  In the first movie, a group of guys decide to get laid before they graduate high school.  So, the hijinks ensued because of the plot, whereas this movie has the random hijinks with the focus and the plot coming in a distant second.  So, the movie has more of a disjointed feel to it than the first movie. 

That is not to say there aren’t some nice nostalgia moments from the first movie in this movie.  While those moments are crammed into the last of the third act, they are handled pretty well.  Actually, most of the cast from the first movie make an appearance in the last few moments.  And, the 13 year payoff with Stifler and Finch is worth watching the entire movie for at the end. 

-Chris Klein:  Somehow, this guy has gotten worst as he’s gotten older.  Did the Street Fighter movie ruin his acting chops?  He’s really horrible in this movie. What happened Klein? 

-Tara Reid:  Oh, boy.  What happened to you, girl?  To be fair, she looks much healthier in this movie than during her botched boob-job era.

-Seann William Scott:  Does this guy even age?  He looks nearly the same as he does in the first film.  I didn’t find him as annoying as he was in the third movie. 

-Mena Suvari:  Since she likes being in movies with the name American in the title, this was not a surprise.  She looks much better older. 

-Natasha Lyonne:  She finally reprises her role.  Lyonne looks like she’s lived two lifetimes of hardship.  Given all the problems she’s had, that’s understandable.

-Shannon Elizabeth has a small cameo.  I love me some Shannon Elizabeth, and no she doesn’t naked. 

-The scene where Jim has to take home a naked 18 year old girl to her house and hide from her parents is probably one of the better set pieces. 

There is a lot of male and female nudity, if you’re looking for that.  This follow up the American Pie franchise is tired, but there are some funny moments and bits that will put a smile on your face. It certainly doesn’t have the boyish charm of the first movie.   Overall, the jokes are bit staler, but there are enough bits that will keep you from turning off the movie.  Not bad.

Grade: C

 Seann William Scott:  "Why do I get the feeling I've been playing the same character the last ten years?" 

Jason Biggs:  "Look, I've been playing the guy in all my movies too."

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On the beach, the Smoke Monster shows up and takes them all out.