JASON BIGGS ALYSON HANNIGAN EUGENE LEVY CHRIS KLIEN TARA REID MENA SUVARI
SEAN WILLIAN SCOTT THOMAS IAN NICHOLAS EDDIE KAYE THOMAS JENNIFER COOLIDGE
AMERICAN REUNION
The most creative thing about this fourth American Pie film is that they got every single cast member back to replicate the poster from the 1999 original; they are even in the same poses. There hadn’t been a theatrical ‘Pie’ film since 2003’s American Reunion. Now we have the 10 year reunion (even though one of the cast members says they missed it by a few years. Seeing the same characters that played teenagers in a film that, in 1999, felt like it was pushing the limits to teenage “R” rated comedy, now just looks pathetic. In the first film, American Pie was a jumping off place for newcomers like Biggs, Suvari and Scott, but if this reunion showcases anything, it’s that none of the actors in these film have done anything worth bragging about.
Jim (Bigg) and Michelle (Hannigan) have lost their spark after their child was born; now they have returned to the same tactics they practiced in high school. They get ready to head back to the town where they grew up and join their wild friends for the high school’s 10 year reunion. Stifler (Scott), who now works at some boring firm, can’t wait to organize one of those infamous hook-up parties. Jim’s mother has passed away and he encourages his dad (Levy) to tag along to this party. They will all get back together to rediscover why they were friends in the first place and what has changed since high school.
Boring is how I would describe this fourth installment. It’s the same tricks and the same predictable scenarios the previous sequels offered up. Sure, Biggs finally shows his private part (something that would have been unacceptable in 1999), but with every other raunchy comedy doing the same exact thing, even that was a by-the-books stunt. This is also the first of the films to be written and directed by the team that does all the Harold & Kumar films (not a plus in my book).
The only suspense this script has is where the next minor character from the original will pop up; they are all here. The one person I enjoyed from these films who doesn’t have nearly enough screen time is Coolidge, aka Stifler’s mom. There is one nice cameo at the end (another character’s mom). There are so many films out there that would benefit by exploring their wonderfully well rounded and interesting characters. Instead, we always get sequels to the lousy characters that are paper thin.
Final Thought – Another stale piece.
Grade C-
By: Dustin Chase W
Editor: Michael Woody
Dr. Donna Copeland’s
2nd OPINION
Back in 1999, the first American Pie production was about a group of high school students who were obsessed with sex, and made their experiences of it funny to audiences. American Pie 2 was an account of their first year in college, then there was American Wedding, and now—the actors are in their thirties—and we have American Reunion with many of the same characters returning to high school for their 10th anniversary. In this production, we also get teenagers again to remind us of the first film, and two of the alums’ parents who had significant roles in the other films; it is multi-generational.
Surprising to me is the filmmakers’ success in following the same characters (and actors) across time. As one reunion attendee says to another, “You are so different, and yet you are the same as you always were.” Part of the success lies in the likeableness of the characters, for all their foibles and misdemeanors. As with our friends in life, we forgive them, and value the person underneath.
In the first film, the males are committed to losing their virginity. That’s Jim (Jason Biggs), Oz (Chris Klein), Stifler (Seann William Scott), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas). In this film, they’re trying to maintain faithfulness to their wives and girlfriends, but some of the teens and women make that difficult.
The five men are really psyched about their reunion, and decide to get together a few days before, just their small group. They plan to exclude Stifler, the troublemaker, but of course he turns up anyway, his same socially inappropriate, but forgivable self. Forgivable because he always comes through in the end. And besides, he does know how to throw good parties. There are the usual high jinks and raunchy happenings that were signatures of the earlier shows, with a slightly different take on it, given the time lapse (age progression).
