Reunited, and It Feels So-So

To those of you who came looking for my review of the return episode of Glee: sorry, not tonight. I went out to a concert this evening (itself a likely subject of an upcoming entry), and don't expect to catch up until the weekend. Tonight, please enjoy this dish I prepared earlier.

I missed it in theaters earlier this year, but had the chance to catch American Reunion -- the fourth theatrically released movie in the American Pie series -- on DVD. I remember the advertising for it proudly claiming that all of the original cast members returned for the film, and indeed, every last character I can think of of even minor significance has at least a small cameo appearance. So right off, the nostalgia dial on the film is set high.

Then you add the plot of the movie. It involves all the characters returning for their high school reunion, reflecting about where they were in life then and where they are in life now... it's frankly rather heady stuff for a comedy. And that's basically the problem with this movie. It's way too long on plot and way too short on the simple, raunchy laughs of the original.

As an ensemble cast, the actors of American Pie are a generally skilled bunch. They actually imbue this story with a surprising amount of introspection. You really do take a look (if only a superficial one) at issues like: How do you keep the spontaneity and passion in a marriage after you've had a child? How can you really live your life when you keep comparing each new romantic partner to "the one that got away?" What's it like to face being a "has been" in your early 30s? What's it like to still be desperately clinging onto the imagined glories of high school a decade later? Where is the line between compromising with a spouse and setting aside all your own interests and desires to be with them?

Thoughtful stuff, sure. But not particularly rife for comedy, as a whole. American Reunion has sweet scenes, but not very many funny ones, especially not when compared to the original film. (And the many homages in this movie invite you to make exactly that comparison.) There's a certain mindset I think I could have been in to be more receptive to this movie, but its mere membership in the American Pie film franchise set me up with the wrong expectations.

I give the movie a middle of the road C. It's certainly nothing that anyone involved should be embarrassed of, but at the same time, it's simply not worthy of the hilarious film whose ghost it constantly invokes.