American Reunion: A Nostalgic Slice of the Pie

American Pie was the Porky’s of my generation. I vividly remember sitting in our small town movie theatre with my group of high school friends and being delighted at the sheer naughtiness running rampant for an hour and a half. The boobs, desecrated beer, deflowered pie, and the plethora of other gross out moments burned perfectly in our post-adolescent potty humor minds. After a string of American Pie re-dishing’s that fell short of expectations (Apart from American Pie 2), the latest American Pie installment returned to its tried and true ingredients with American Reunion. I couldn’t help but feel the nostalgia flowing through every scene of the movie right down to the late 90’s soundtrack. It was a striking homage to my youth, but unlike some long overdue sequels: American Reunion grew up with its audience.

The story once again follows the perpetually humiliated Jim (Jason Biggs) as he returns home for his 13^th High School reunion. In tow is the old gang, including his wife Michelle (Alyson Hanigan) of band camp flute fame and perennially immature Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott). Jim and Michelle haven’t been finding the time to connect intimately since the birth of their now two-year old son. The whole gang share off-shoots of Jim and Michelle’s typical thirty-something problems: They are unhappy with their jobs, home lives, and none of them are where they expected in life post high school. A simple remedy it seems would be to relive their youthful antics, this time around with a slew of “Were getting to old for this” and “Were we as annoying as these teenagers?” jokes. The story of returning home after a long hiatus was definitely executed effectively, and apart from a few “forced” scenes flowed pretty well. (Chris Klein’s Oz story arc as former sensitive lacrosse player turned unhappy T.V. sports analyst/Dancing with the Stars castoff was too farfetched even for American Pie.)

The beacon of comedy for Reunion was once again Seann William Scott. A good 80% of the legitimate laughs stemmed from Stifler’s antics. In the beginning of the movie he’s stuck as the Stifler of the past, and by the end he has come to terms with his role in life as the ever-juvenile enforcer of raunchy mayhem and accepts it with a sly smile. Also of note is newcomer to the series Dania Ramirez, who fits right in with the original cast as the former chubby band geek turned hip sexy bartender Selena. Cameos by all the original minor characters pop up throughout Reunion, with the most memorable being the return of Milf Guy #2 John Cho.

Overall, the movie was not as raunchy as the originals, but as a now pushing thirty adult, I could appreciate that. American Pie spawned a generation of naughty teen movies, each trying to re-create the success of American Pie. The ability to shock an audience with crudeness is becoming increasingly more difficult. American Reunion found a few zingers while still managing to produce a story with nostalgic heart. If you’ve never seen American Pie, you might drown in the slew of inside jokes. But, if you were a fan of the original,go ahead and drop the $12 to cut yourself off a slice of American Reunion.