ann hale serves up a hot slice of reunion…
I was fifteen when American Pie came out in 1999. Back then, I was sure that it was the funniest movie I would ever see. There’s premature ejaculation on a web cam, laxative induced mud butt, sex with a friend’s mom, the reveal of masturbation with a flute and, of course, sex with a pie. The American Pie trilogy consisted of some of the funniest films until Judd Apatow hit the spotlight and gave us all new types of jokes to laugh at. So, American Reunion needed to give us jokes that would make us forget about Apatow, but it failed to deliver.
In this installment, the crew gathers back at East Great Falls for their 10 year high school reunion, which should have been in 2009 but was apparently forgotten about until now. Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and Jim (Jason Biggs) have a two year old son, Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is married, Oz (Chris Klein) is a sports announcer in LA with a model girlfriend, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) has supposedly traveled the world, and Stifler (Sean William Scott)is a temp at a finance company. The movie starts out like the others, with Jim trying to jerk it but this time, he is interrupted by his son. When he tries to escape, he busts Michelle masturbating in the bathtub. Not the funniest opener but its suits the rest of the film.
After the first three films, you know exactly what is coming. Michelle and Jim promise each other that they will spend some alone time over the reunion weekend, as they haven’t had sex in awhile. As you can probably guess, they don’t get alone time as Jim has to spend time with his friends getting drunk. The guys getting drunk, of course, means nudity, stupidity, and Stifler trying to screw anyone with boobs.
Honestly, the best part of the whole movie is Jim’s dad. He’s single now (his wife has been dead for three years) and, since he doesn’t get out much, Jim invites him to Stifler’s party where he meets Stifler’s mom. I wont spoil anything, but Eugene Levy + alcohol + marijuana = Hilarious!
There really wasn’t anything special about American Reunion. I wont lie — I laughed and I laughed hard but it was at the same old jokes and the same old story. Stifler is the same asshole that makes you laugh, Kevin is still a little bitch, Oz still seems gay, Jim is still an idiot and Finch is still doesn’t fit in with the group. I’m still amazed at how frumpy they can make Alyson Hannigan look, considering that anyone that has seen How I Met Your Mother knows that she’s beautiful.
I always loved the American Pie movies. I understood the need for the sequels as it made sense for us to follow the crew to college and, with Jim and Michelle getting together, we wanted to see them get married. American Reunion was an unnecessary two hours of gay, sex and alcohol jokes. Sure, the jokes were well-timed but there was nothing new or original. I would have been angry if I had paid full price to see this in the theater. My suggestion is to go to a matinee or wait to rent.
