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| Courtesy of Universal |
I’m
warning you up front that I watched American Reunion, the fourth installment in the American
Pie franchise (not counting those crummy direct-to-DVD entries), through a
heavy fog of nostalgia. Keep that in mind when you see the (probably too-kind)
grade at the bottom. I know I’m not supposed to say this as a film critic, but
it’s almost impossible for me to watch these flicks objectively.
Each
installment has been a much raunchier version of my own life, and the major
milestones I’ve experienced have matched these characters pretty much
step-for-step. American Pie hit theaters about six weeks after I graduated
high school, and the characters were the class of 1999, just like me.
American
Pie 2 came out in 2001, about halfway through my college experience, and the
characters were dealing with a lot of problems that seemed familiar to me – the
difficulty of keeping in touch with friends, realizing relationships don’t
always last forever, growing up sucks sometimes, etc. 2003 brought American
Wedding, which found main character Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) marrying his
high school sweetheart, Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). It wasn’t as relatable to
me at the time, but the same thing happened to me a few years later and
suddenly it made more sense.
That means,
at least for me, that American Reunion was much more of an entertaining and
emotional viewing experience than it had any right to be. The film reunites the
entire cast, even the folks in bit parts, and plays up the past in a big way
through references to previous movies and an incredibly ’90s soundtrack.
Again,
events synced up perfectly for me – everyone has been out of high school for
over a decade, nobody keeps in touch like they should and life, as it often
does, has mellowed everyone out. Even the nasty Jim and Michelle have a kid and
careers now, so their hilarious exploits are a thing of the past. There’s a
realistic melancholy feel that hangs over much of the film.
Once
everyone shows up for the titular reunion, there are plenty of “hey, it’s that
guy!” scenes featuring actors I hadn’t thought about in years, including Chris
Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Mena Suvari and Tara Reid. It’s
even good to see the annoying Stifler (Seann William Scott) again, even though
he’s still up to his familiar tricks.
Jon
Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who share directing and screenwriting duties,
nail the movie’s tone, giving it just the right mix of crudeness and heart.
That’s something I always appreciated about their Harold and Kumar flicks,
and they put it to good use here. Even the prerequisite lengthy nude scene –
involving Jim fighting off the advances of his drunken teenage neighbor (Ali
Cobrin, an absolute knockout) – isn’t solely about titillation. It’s also about
Jim trying to keep a naive girl from doing something stupid that would
simultaneously wreck her life and ruin his marriage.
As far as
performances go, let’s be honest. Nobody’s winning an Oscar for this thing.
Still, Biggs and Hannigan help audiences remember what we love about this crazy
couple, and Eugene Levy gets the MVP trophy for bringing a surprising amount of
pathos to a character who is generally treated as a joke delivery system.
Again,
take everything I say here with a grain of salt. You might see American Reunion
and wonder why the heck I gave it such a good grade. But for people like me,
who essentially grew up with these characters, it was nice to revisit a story
(for the last time?) that I remember with fondness.
American Reunion is rated R
for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, language, brief drug use and
teen drinking.
Grade: B-
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