American Reunion (2012)

Revisiting the original American Pie in 2012 is like opening up a late-’90s time capsule. It’s very clear what made the film such a hit—it's generally a lot of fun and it comes from a sincere, honest place—but it is unmistakably a product of its time. From the fashion to the wall-to-wall use of music I have long referred to as “American Pie rock,” it makes thirteen years ago look like it was thirty years ago. The film still mostly works today, as do portions of the sequels, but it so willingly dates itself that current and future generations are unlikely to respond to it at the level that so many did back when it came out. The third theatrical sequel American Reunion provided an opportunity for the franchise to endear itself to a more modern group of teenage rapscallions, but it makes the crucial mistake of becoming a slave to nostalgia. The film is better than I thought it was going to be, and this cast is always good for a handful of humorous gross-out hijinks, but no one involved seems all that interested in looking forward. The characters may have aged 13 years, but not quite enough has changed.

As is custom, the film begins with a sequence in which our hero Jim Levenstein (the perpetually affable Jason Biggs) is sexually humiliated in one way or another. His marriage to former band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) has resulted in a two-year old son and not a lot of intimate time, and their frustration is starting to boil over. They return to East Great Falls for their thirteenth high school reunion, which is totally a thing, and it is there that Jim meets up with old friends Oz (Chris Klein), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and the… charming Stifler (Seann William Scott). They have all had their share of “real life” problems and regrets, so they decide to just have a weekend of good old-fashioned debauchery. It doesn’t go so hot. Also showing up are Pie veterans Tara Reid, Mena Suvari, Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge and plenty more surprises.

American Reunion was written and directed by Harold and Kumar alums Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, and it's clear that they enjoy the series for all the right reasons. It doesn’t make the mistake of becoming a parade of cruel Jim-barassments—something that irked me about American Wedding—but instead uses the ensemble to tell a handful of different stories about where the characters are today as opposed to the original trilogy. The problem? These stories are never that interesting, and they don't advance the characters at all. The American Pie films have always worked better in bits and pieces than coherent wholes, and that holds especially true of American Reunion. All of the arcs are predictable and it’s hard to identify with any of the characters’ plights, which means that any enjoyment of this film comes via a few effective gags.

The best of these gags are the more long-form ones that slowly build up the awkwardness to an excruciating level and require much of the performers. I’ve never particularly cared for the bits that involve bodily fluids, mostly because the fluids are the beginning and end of the joke. As much as I actively disliked most of American Wedding, there is one sequence involving a bachelor party and Jim's new in-laws that I really appreciated. There’s a similar bit here involving sneaking a particular person into a house that I got a kick out of, because it relies more on the actors than on the addition of a solid or liquid that comes out of the body. Say what you will about the way a select few of them read dialogue, but the entire leading cast is impeccable at choosing a good facial expression. Then there's Eugene Levy, who is a national treasure. A Canadian national treasure, that is.

However, I would argue that the success of the entire American Pie series is thanks to the mostly likable group of guys at the film’s core. The female characters have never been fleshed-out to a respectable degree, and that's a problem, but throughout the original trilogy the grouping of Biggs, Nicholas, Klien, Thomas and Scott were what kept the series afloat despite occasionally weak material. This is pretty much the one role Biggs has played over his career, but he is darn good at it. However, the one guy always good for a laugh in this cast is Eddie Kaye Thomas, who doesn’t play the most likable of characters but the way he delivers a snappy line of dialogue is always pretty impressive. I also really like Seann William Scott, though Stifler is not my favorite character of his. It may be the one that made him famous, but he comes off better in films like Role Models for me.

Much like the two American Pie sequels, American Reunion is a slight and uneven film that is made somewhat worthwhile by a few well-executed scenes. Also like the other two sequels, it is plagued by an inexplicable desire to keep the series in high school when it should be moving on to bigger and better things. I’d have no problem with the series’ longevity if each installment was a funny-but-resonant comedy that honestly explored where the characters are in their lives and where they are going. In that case, I'd gladly follow them into the grave. If you’re not going to do anything new and interesting with it, then a belated fourth installment like American Reunion probably isn’t all that necessary. Fans of the series who just want to return to East Great Falls for a couple hours will probably enjoy the movie just fine, and it’s usually amusing enough. I like to hold my sex comedies to a higher standard, thank you very much. American Reunion cracks a few jokes at the expense of the younger generation before scoffing and leaping into a wormhole back to 1999. It's two hours of preaching to the converted.

Grade: C+

P.S. – If you’re looking for a high school comedy that touches on some of the same things but to a more successful degree, see the terrific 21 Jump Street. It puts grown men back in high school, but it takes it a bit more seriously. There’s none of the empty nostalgia found here.

P.P.S. – You all may know Thomas Ian Nicholas from the American Pie movies, but to me he will always be Rookie of the Year: