Return to list
American Reunion
(American Pie: The Reunion)
It was a trip down
memory lane, and then some...
I was 16/17 when the
first American Pie film came out. I loved it. It was funny, gross but
also, surprisingly touching. The characters that were introduced 13
years ago were relatable and grounded. Jim, Oz, Kevin, Finch and of
course Stiffler. They made the film. The first follow up a couple
years later was okay, if a little bit forced. Then the second sequel
depicting the wedding of Jim and Michelle was an improvement. Surely
that had to be the end of the American Pie films...
In the following years,
a couple of direct-to-DVD "spin off" films were released,
taking some ingredients from the first couple of films and creating
entire films out of them. The results were mediocre at best. The
original cast where nowhere to be seen in the spin off movies (except
for Jim's dad) so it certainly seemed we would never see the original
cast of characters together again.
It was only early last
year when the announcement was made American Reunion would grace our
screens. At first, it sounded like a last grab for cash to me, but I
knew I would go see it anyway. I grew up with these characters, so to
speak, and enjoyed watching their antics on screen. When the first
trailer popped up on-line showing the entire original cast were
returning, my hopes improved and it looked as if the new film might
be alright.
It takes place roughly
10 years after the first film. Jim and Michelle are still married and
now have a 2 year old son. That's about all that's new in Jim’s
life, as he's still finding ways to hurt or humiliate himself in his
need "satisfy" himself. Kevin is married to a nice girl,
but feels somewhat unsatisfied in his life, as if something is
missing. Finch is still an enigma, travelling the world and sleeping
with women way out of his league. Oz is now a celebrity, hosting a
sports show and dating a supermodel who lives one day at a time. And
Stiffler... he's got an office job and appears to have settled down,
but in fact he just wants to keep on partying. The high school all
these guys went to is organising a reunion, so they catch up once
more to relive the glory days.
The girls from the
original film show up as well, but only in small supporting roles.
This film is about the boy as they come to terms with getting older,
growing up, relationships, work, marriage and responsibility. But a
part of them still just wants to have fun and get into trouble.
I was impressed with
American Reunion. It was far better than I thought it would be -
funny, very rude, clever and faithful to it's roots. The audience I
attended it with on Saturday night were most likely the same age as
me, who saw the first film all those years ago and came back to catch
up with these characters one more time.
Now surely, this HAS to
be the final time we see all these characters on screen. But if
America Reunion is a hit, then some clever thinking might reunite
them again. For the 20 year high school reunion perhaps?
No comments:
Post a Comment