American Pie: Reunion

Directed by Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg

[rating:4/5]

Please don’t judge me. I didn’t set out to see this movie, but by the time I got to the cinema, it was the only film my friends and I were all prepared to watch. With this being the eighth film (if we include several terrible straight-to-DVD affairs) in a series that has been milked to death over the years, I wasn’t expecting brilliance.

My previous American Pie experience amounts to the first two films, which I thought were a barrel of laughs, and one of the aforementioned DVD oddities called The Naked Mile, which really wasn’t. I’ve never felt a strong connection to the series but when the film started, I realised that, within the American Pie universe, this was something special.

The film returns to the original American Pie characters in Jim (Jason Biggs), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Oz (Chris Klein), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and, of course, Seann William Scott’s Stifler in addition to a plethora of other secondary characters. Each of our protagonists, 13 years after leaving high school, are struggling with the first-world problems of adult life and are brought together with the convenient plot device of the high school reunion. The reintroduction to our favourite teen comedy characters is well executed and ensures that even those only vaguely familiar with the series will be engaged with the film, and those who are familiar are actually grateful to see them again.

As they return to Whateversville in Always Sunny State, the main characters predictably proceed to entangle themselves in a series of sticky situations, some of which involve graphic onscreen nudity, including a brief but excruciating penis flash to balance the relatively copious scenes with breasts. The series of subplots are hilarious, if pretty immature, but it is the dialogue that really had me laughing out loud – I’d forgotten just how entertaining listening to Stifler could be.

In the end, the determinant of whether you will enjoy this film is your reaction to the first one. Those who don’t find the crass humour of the series appealing have no reason to see this film. On the other hand, people who enjoyed the first film and can tune their sense of humour to that of a 15-year-old will find this addition a treat. Without making the series drag even further, Hurwitz and Schlossberg have created a nostalgic piece for long-time fans to relish.

It may not be art, but it’s classic American Pie.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcL2zUZpfMQ