All good things must come to an end, and the American Pie series has been good. OK, except for maybe The Naked Mile. And Book of Love. And Beta House. Hmm.
“The name’s Noah, motherfucker!”
Plot-in-a-nutshell: The class of ’99 have a 13 year reunion, featuring a return to the days of debauchery
See it if you like: the original films… but you’ve grown up a bit
I’d heard very positive things about this film from the handful of people I know who caught it on the opening night (or even earlier, at the world premier in Australia). As mentioned above, the three theatrical films in the series to date have been pretty good managing to maintain a good level of humour without digging the same hole over and over.
I’m glad to say that American Reunion manages to maintain this drive, and doesn’t fall into the trap of rehashing old joked the way the straight-to-DVD episodes did. What makes the difference above all else? The cast and original characters.
Our story begins 13 years after the original, which did indeed come out in 1999. There are plenty of references back to it, but our characters have moved on a lot. Some are married, some are successful, Jim and Michelle have a baby boy, Jim’s dad is a widower… quite a few changes.
Oh, except Stifler. He’s still acting like he’s 14.
As the film goes on, more and more of the original cast make appearances. It really is like being reintroduced to old friends yourself as the characters meet up and exchange memories.
The plot is superb. There’s no shortage of gross-out humour and the opening 2-3 minutes is as full of giggles as the original. Somehow writer Jon Hurwitz has managed to find a thread of originality and uses it to string a handful of ****-smeared, boobs-out, bondage-gear-wearing sequences into a story that ultimately has a real feelgood ending.
It’s always tempting to say that Eugene Levy is the star of the moment – his character is wonderful and the show of weakness that comes in as we discover he’s lost his wife really adds a new dimension. However, though he’s not upstaged by anyone else, the improvement in storyline and depth added to the other characters stops the film being just about him. He does, however, get the best line in the film – hence why I’ve used it above!
I don’t think fans of the originals will be disappointed. People’s senses of humour change as they age, and this fourth (and final?) film has taken this into account. All for the better.
While not being as rib-achingly hilarious as the first film was, it’s probably actually a better film overall as a result. Definitely worth seeing.
Related articles
- Cinema & Film: Film Review: American Pie: Reunion (coventrytelegraph.net)
- American Reunion/American Pie: Reunion is pretty sweet (mynotsofictionallife.wordpress.com)
- American Pie: Reunion – Film Preview (thomasjamesmitchell.com)
