It’s a strange experience to return to characters and a world which hold so much nostalgia for a generation after both the characters and the audience have grown up. This experience is at the center of American Reunion – the first film featuring the full cast of the original American Pie films since 2001 – as the graduates of East Great Falls reunite for a class reunion leading to a weekend filled with the typical awkward situations of sex, love, and friendship. While it is a pleasant callback to see these characters again, the jokes and premises feel forced and largely unoriginal, with a few moments of hilarity and honesty that can’t quite justify the existence of this latest addition to the American Pie films.
The whole gang has returned, as Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are now parents, with Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), a newlywed himself, Oz (Chris Klein), a sportscaster and one-time contestant on “Celebrity Dance-Off,” bringing along his model girlfriend (Katrina Bowden). Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) returns with exotic tales of world travel, and Stifler (Seann William Scott) is up to his usual shenanigans, living with his Mom (Jennifer Collidge) and working as a temp for a large company.
As the gang reconnects, more familiar faces begin to show up including, Heather (Mena Survari), who has brought along her surgeon boyfriend (Jay Harrington), and Vicky (Tara Reid), who has been living in New York. Jim’s Dad (Eugene Levy) is also present, with some of the film’s finest moments, as he puts himself back on the market after his wife passes away. Even milf guy #2 (John Cho) makes an appearance, but there are a lot of characters to keep track of, and regrettably many appearances don’t feel all that necessary.
American Reunion is intermittently funny, relying a bit too much on old jokes that grow tired and feel forced. There are the usual awkward situations for Jim, who must deal with romantic issues with Michelle, as well as an 18-year old neighbor, Kara (Ali Cobrin), who has a crush on Jim, her former babysitter. This unfortunate situation leads to two of the funniest scenes in the film, but unfortunately originality throughout the film is largely lacking.
Written and directed by Harold & Kumar creators Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, American Reunion lacks the clever originality that has made the Harold & Kumar franchise so successful. Here everything feels safe – even the raunchier bits – as there is essentially the same old formula in place with less heart and much less timeliness. Yes, there are moments of comedy that work, but the film never justifies itself for existing as everything worked much better thirteen years ago in American Pie.
The story, characters, relationship drama, and the general moving force behind the film are all lacking. Nostalgia and the audience’s fond memories of the characters and world of American Pie only take the film so far. It stumbles from joke to joke, with bland character interactions and drama in between. The relationship struggles between each character are unimpressive, from Oz and Heather’s complete lack of chemistry, to an odd relationship between Finch and a new character (and former band-geek), Selena (Dania Ramirez). This is the greatest disconnect between American Reunion and the past films, where the relationships at least felt authentic beneath the raunch and awkwardness.
American Reunion is an at times enjoyable and sporadically funny installment into the American Pie canon. Doing very little to justify a return to the characters of East Great Falls, the supporting cast offer the most enjoyment to this film, which otherwise features uninspired and lackluster relationships and jokes for these characters we’ve grown to know so well. For anyone who grew up with the original American Pie films, it will be interesting to reconnect with these characters, but unfortunately that’s where the enjoyment stops.
Grade: C
Rated: R (for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, language, brief drug use and teen drinking.)
American Reunion opens nationwide on April 6, 2012.
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