American Reunion

When seeing the movie, the theater was having massive problems with their audio system, so we couldn't hear any of the music playing in the background or designed to set the mood. However, that's what got the biggest laughs in American Reunion, because it was just so funny to hear a character say something like, "I love this song!" or see the cast dancing and jiving to silence. This should worry those of you who will see the movie with the music.

In the midst of dealing with life's ups and downs, the kids from American Pie all are heading back home for a reunion. Michelle (Alyson "Am I too big of a star to be in this?" Hannigan) and Jim (Jason "I used to be called a star" Biggs) are suffering through a lull in their married love life, if you know what I mean.

Oz (Chris "Remember when I dated Katie Holmes?" Klein) seems to have a successful career as a sportscaster, but still wants to fill the hole in his heart where love should exist.

Kevin (Thomas Ian "So unmemorable he doesn't deserve a nickname" Nicholas) is worried he has become too much of a house husband.

And, Stifler (Seann "I need to make a sequel to Dude Where's My Car" William Scott) needs to get his life together.

When the pals come together for the reunion, can they help each other through their troubles?

Will they cause new troubles for themselves?

Who told Tara Reid we were filming a sequel, and how come security didn't keep her off the set?

Writers/directors Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg attempt to tug at your heart strings by reminiscing about the old days, and try to make you laugh with some allegedly outrageous, naughty situations, but don't succeed on either level.

If you have fond memories of American Pie and the sequels (and the straight to DVD tales that paid for star Eugene Levy's beach house), or see yourself and your friends in these characters, maybe you would enjoy it more, but American Reunion falls flat. While trying to market the movie as the beginning of the raunchy R-rated comedy (banking on short memories that don't recall films like Animal House, Porky's and Stripes), it isn't raunchy enough nor funny enough. Most situations feel forced and beyond calculated, while Hurwitz and Schlossberg hope having some naked ladies in the scenes will make them more memorable or funny. They don't.

Then, none of the stories really matter. Each character seems to be on some quest for happiness as they age, but these aren't even excuses for putting them in provocative, interesting situations. American Reunion is a movie where the characters bounce from scene to scene without any storytelling going on, or these scenes having much of an impact on the main plot. Even an attempt at the big, emotional, uprising speech by the downtrodden dude who just won't take it anymore fails to deliver any real emotion or comedy because it is so horribly written, and not acted much better.

It's as if Hurwitz and Schlossberg are trying to get the audience to relate to the characters' troubles like dealing with the past, reminiscing about former love or struggling through an evolving marriage, but don't provide the depth and details to make these plots realistic. They want to allude to them and hope you get the idea, instead of doing the hard work of developing them.

American Reunion is like most reunions. You are kind of shocked at who lost their hair, who got fat, who got divorced and realize you should have skipped it altogether.

American Reunion is rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, language, brief drug use and teen drinking.