American Pie: Reunion 

    Reviewed by Tim Cooper on April 18th, 2012
    Universal presents a film directed by Adam Herz
    Screenplay by Adam Herz and Jon Hurwitz
    Starring: Jason Biggs, Sean William Scott, Eugene Levy and Alyson
    Hannigan
    Running Time: 113 mins
    Rating: MA
    Released:  April 5th, 2012

6/10

In the late sixties the buttoned down youth rebelled with drug use inspired by the wildly unhinged Easy Rider. The seventies then saw the pimpled masses singing along vacantly about teen pregnancy and hot rods in a movie that is as popular today as it was then. That movie was Grease. John Hughes then ushered the shopping mall denim dropouts of the eighties into the cinema with his skull crackin' classic; The Breakfast Club. A movie that promoted individuality and the only reason why Simple Minds ever should have existed as a band. 

Now in the nineties the world had bigger problems than drugs, jocks and summer nights. We had Operation Desert Storm, the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mandela as South African President, LA Riots, OJ and Clinton. With such a tumultuous decade it was always going to be interesting to see what the youth of tomorrow chose to do in their down time. To see what they did to escape the woes of such a changing and brutal world. These culture hungry minds wanted their own generational cinematic stamp like their parents before them. Their own Easy Rider. Their own Grease or Breakfast Club. What they got instead was wholesome American teenager Jason Biggs, having sex with a hot apple pie in the family kitchen.

Now after three courses he back for dessert with American Pie: Reunion. Not counting the straight to DVD releases for the American Pie movies, American Pie: Reunion is the fourth and hopefully final feature for this coming of age comedy series. A series that has made the word MILF common vernacular and introduced us to such word play as the strikingly direct "S#*k me beautiful!" There is very little you need to know about this film that the trailer hasn't already showed you. The entire cast of the original return, obviously dropping whatever Oscar worthy script or HBO pilot they were working on. That includes Mena Suvari's forehead and what's left of Tara Reid's original face. The movie is similar in tone to the first film. It's all about mates, dates, beers and boobs. There is a lot of catching up between the main cast as they discuss how much their acting has improved and how Jim (Jason Biggs) now tries to make love to women, not pies. Once the script stops referencing decade old jokes, fans of the series actually might feel some hint of nostalgia upon seeing the characters back together. However, character growth between films has left Jim with a penchant for his schoolgirl neighbour and Stifler (Sean William Scott) is now somewhat of a basket case. The girls are given very little screen time, which is surprising given Alyson Hannigan's comedic value. Tara Reid tries, but Reunion makes her Dodo internet adds look positively Shakespearean. 

If you enjoyed the first three films, go check this out. You will get the slice of pie you were expecting. Jim's dad (Eugene Levy) and Stifler's mum (Jennifer Coolidge) have the scene stealing roles while Sean Williams Scott carries the rest of the laughs. The soundtrack has a bunch of late nineties songs that will have the grown up 90's graduates humming along. There are also a few scripted moments where things really go off the rails, like movies like this always should. These are the funniest moments in the film. However with better direction, script work and improvising from the actors these moments really could have been hilarious. Unfortunately with Reunion, there is very little in the way of originality or surprises in the laughs that gives reason for both this or another film in the series. It is a shame to have the final speech in the film being such an obvious hint that there may be more films in the series. This kind of unsubtle audience baiting script work deduces any sense of love for the characters down to nothing but a studio money spinner. Milking the dried up cash cow is what the studios do well, but does anyone really want to see American Pie: The Retirement Village?