After 13 years since their high school graduation, the characters of “American Pie” converge in their hometown for a reunion. They indulge in some drinking, reminisce over the yearbook, share memories, drive tipsy youngsters home, reconnect with old acquaintances, wake up next to some of those acquaintances, drink some more, get Jim’s dad drunk, get Jim’s dad high, end up at the police station, resolve family issues (right on a table in the assembly hall), and finally, have a farewell drink before parting ways, promising to meet again next year.
This list is, of course, not exhaustive, but it paints a general picture. However, since 1999 and the first “American Pie” (which now seems like a chaste reminder that virginity should be lost for love or, at worst, with the trusted mom of your best friend), not only have times changed, but so has cinema itself. For example, we couldn’t have previously expected a full-frontal scene from actor Jason Biggs, but now it seems almost inappropriate to make a comedy about lost youth without showing the main character’s genitals at least once. Conversely, Stifler’s physiological jokes have lost their shocking edge. Seriously, he should grow up and wake up – for the Apatow gang, all these antics have long replaced morning exercises.
The Reunion Aspect
But these are all details. As a reunion movie, it’s quite successful. After all, the story runs on the same fuel as an ordinary high school reunion, where everyone gathers not for the plot, but to see who’s doing what, who’s married to whom, and who has gained how many pounds.
The Cast
In the case of “American Pie: Reunion,” the producers did a decent job of bringing together almost all the actors from the first films. It’s especially interesting to see them, considering that only Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan have had truly successful film careers. In the movie, they are still married and raising a son. But Lily… sorry, Alyson has been in a cinematic relationship with Marshall from “How I Met Your Mother” for so long that you involuntarily expect him to appear with shouts and maybe a double-barreled shotgun.
With the others, things are simpler. Thirteen years later, they are still Oz, Kevin, Stifler, and Finch, who (surprisingly) haven’t aged much and (thankfully) haven’t gotten any smarter. Oz is now a screen star dating a model, Kevin is married and only occasionally checks on his first love, Vicky, on Facebook, Finch is rambling about seven years in Tibet but seems to be just a manager selling paper clips, and about Stifler, it can be added that he is the worst version of a “kidult” ever seen on the screen. The touching Mena Suvari also appears in the film, for whom 1999, when both “American Pie” and “American Beauty” were released, remains her most stellar year.
Final Thoughts
But enough fun. Like high school reunions, only the first half-hour is informative, and when wives, children, and cars are finally counted, it turns out that the bar is booked for another hour, and all that’s left is to drink – and drink a lot. The same goes for “American Pie: Reunion.” Sometimes sweet, sometimes disgusting, but mostly quite pointless, it manages to get pretty boring by the middle (however, the authors try to compensate for the lack of successful jokes with an abundance of naked high school girls).
The final suggestion to “meet more often” seems like a threat. The liver won’t withstand it.