AMERICAN REUNION

Photos courtesy of Universal Studios                               

                                   

Jim and Michelle, Stifler and Oz and the rest of the gang are back together for their 13-year high school reunion in the comedy AMERICAN REUNION.  

The more things change, the more things stay the same, and although Jim and Michelle are now married, Oz a national celebrity and Finch an ambitious world traveler, these men still have a lot of boy in them.  Jim’s sexual frustration continues, this time as a dad; Oz still pines for Heather, even though he’s dating a supermodel; and Stifler, well Stifler is still Stifler.

 

 

The same problems that hampered the original AMERICAN PIE also hamper AMERICAN REUNION.

Only two of the five boys, now men, that are featured have a distinct or humorous personality, while the others’ story lines seem to be filling up space required for a nearly two-hour sex comedy.  By focusing the film on the two best figures, the apprehensive Jim and the uproarious Stifler, I believe the AMERICAN PIE series would have operated much better.  These two characters are by far the funniest of the gang, and by pairing them together, and leaving the other characters as tag-alongs, the laughs would have consistently flowed, and the mentalities of Jim and Stifler could have been juxtaposed to effectively sell the message that AMERICAN REUNION is attempting to convey.

Instead, writer-directors John Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg of HAROLD AND KUMAR fame, play AMERICAN REUNION more as recap of the first film, filled with all of the same characters and similar scenarios.  Laughs are to be had, but they are more sporadic than consistent, leaving Jim and Stifler, Jason Biggs and Sean William Scott to carry the load.  

AMERICAN REUNION plays like a fourth installment of a comedy series, recycled, repackaged and retread.

Grade: C