Friday, July 13, 2012

AMERICAN REUNION: PIE BAKED ONCE MORE


One of the first movies in the teen gross out genre was AMERICAN PIE. The movie was funny, had some jokes that a few people might find offensive and on the whole was quite entertaining. It was followed by a few lackluster sequels that never quite got the whole gang together again. So it's nice to see that everyone has come back for the reunion. AMERICAN REUNION that is.

Believe it or not it's been 13 years since we the teens in the series graduated and moved on. Yes, we know that Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and Jim (Jason Biggs) got married (one of the sequels). Jim works at a good job and they have a son now. What they don't have is an interesting sex life, the crux of their problem in this film.

What's up with everyone else? Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is in love with a working woman and about ready to tie the knot himself. He works at home as an architect and the couple tend to do more things that interest her than him but he's content. Oz (Chris Klein) is a sports announcer in LA whose girlfriend seems to be far more off the beaten path than he might like. Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is a mystery with rumors of him traveling the world. And Stiffler (Seann William Scott) remains Stiffler, the ever adolescent party man who works as a temp assistant to a tyrannical boss.

All of these friends have kept in touch and seen one another from time to time, but this year they've decided to get together for their thirteenth class reunion. Not only that they're coming into town early to just get in touch with one another again. They omit Stiffler from the gathering but he finds his way to them anyway. And it's Stiffler that is the same as he was 13 years ago and who pulls them into their past.

The set ups for various jokes work well into the storyline. Going to the beach they all enjoyed when they were teens they do what all responsible adults do, they get drunk. This leads to a prank Stiffler finds hilarious and the others consider a little immature.

The little girl that Jim babysat while in high school is all grown up in every way imaginable and Jim can't believe his eyes. When she gets drunk at a party he takes her home only to have her hit on him. With the help of his friends he just might get her in the house without her parents finding him.

A party Stiffler throws is not quite what he expected with people from work more suit and tie with a bottle of wine than T shirt and keg. His party seems boring until he gets things rolling. This sequence has one of the funniest yet grossest jokes in it.

Misunderstandings and final reconciliations are in order and the movie does have a happy ending. No not one of THOSE happy endings although Jim's dad (Eugene Levy) does bring that up in a conversation. His story is one of the funniest as well as Jim's dad finds possible romance with Stiffler's mom. In any event there was never any doubt that the film would provide us with a happy ending and leave it open for another sequel and that might be a good thing. It's interesting to watch these teens grow into adults and see how they deal with one another as they change.

Amazingly enough the center piece of the film is the life of Stiffler. He misses the old days and while he may have been a jerk to the rest of the characters, he actually loved them as well. They were important to him and meant something to him. On his own he has little to feel good about but with these friends in tow he finds that person that's been missing since graduation.

The acting seen here is natural but then again these are characters that the actors should by now be very comfortable with. It's nice to see them reprise the roles that actually started some of their careers. Each one displays the character at a different time in their life and does it well.

For me the clincher to these movies and to the gross out raunchy teen films in general is was I entertained? I can honestly say yes, this movie does indeed entertain. It made me laugh. It made me care for characters I hadn't watched in some time. It made me reminisce about my high school years as well. It's nice to see a movie that one would place in a niche category swing about and complete so many more. Don't sell this movie out. It's well worth taking the time to see.

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