Who's ready for some more pie? Because after American Wedding in 2003 (and a bunch of straight-to-video snoozers for six years after that) we are finally able to indulge in that pie turned into crumble with all the original cast members. They’re back to wrap up the series and send it and its fans away happy. It successfully manages to make the transition from teen comedy to mostly adult comedy, while still holding firm to its roots.
The story sees all the old regulars, plus a couple new, come back to Great East Falls for their ten-year reunion which has actually been 13 years but as they say in the film, no one bothered to get around to it until now. Jim (Jason Biggs) and Heather (Alyson Hannigan) now have a two-year-old son and the problems with their sex lives that come with it. Oz (Chris Klein) is dating a model and is a local bigshot with a TV sports programme and on a celebrity dance TV show, Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is married and a stay-at-home architect, while Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) says that he has been away on magical adventures around the globe. Stifler (Seann William Scott) is working as a temp and Jim’s Dad (Eugene Levy) has had to deal with the death of his wife.
After the initial set up, the story really hits its pie-stride when Stifler stumbles into the boys at the local pub and suggests that they tear into the weekend like they used to do as a tribute to the old times. This of course invariably leads the boys through many booze-filled escapades where (as in previous films):
A. Jim finds himself in an embarrassing situation(s)
B. Stifler has gross-out experiences as both the doer and the do-ee
C. Oz still has feelings for Heather (Mena Suvari)
D. Someone ends up with Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge)
American Pie: Reunion is not the laugh-out-loud gross-out humour machine that was the first three in the series. The characters have grown up and so has the humour to some extent. Rather than simply trying to get laid, they are trying to work on/build relationships – from Jim and Heather trying to be a husband and wife while still being a mommy and daddy, to Jim’s Dad trying to get back into the dating scene after a deceased spouse, to Finch trying to move on from Stifler’s mum to Oz questioning what he really wants in life. These sorts of things don’t lend themselves as well to the old gross-out gags as before. Thankfully, we still have the old Steve Stifler who still supplies us with the best moments and lines of the film.
American Pie: Reunion is probably the least funny of the four main films, but still has plenty of laughs, just maybe not the rousing, gut busting, I can’t breathe moments that the others had. There are plenty of inside jokes related to previous films and the characters/actors, and a super cool uncredited cameo near the end of the film that will have Stifler fans cheering for him.
This last serving of pie may not be the best, but it certainly is tasty in its own right and a worthy clincher to a fantastic (in a manner of speaking) series of films.
American Pie: Reunion (7)
Dir: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg;
US comedy, 2012, 110 mins;
Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott
Premieres April 5
Playing nationwide
