American Reunion (2012) - Movie Review

Having just had my high school reunion last summer, I can attest to how fun it can be to reunite with everyone and catch up.  I think that made me look forward to American Reunion to see the gang back together.  Unfortunately, I had more fun at my own reunion than watching this movie.

The title pretty much tells you the entire premise.  It's time for their reunion, their 13-year reunion.  Why 13?  I have no idea.  They make reference early in the movie that there was a recent reunion they didn't attend, like their 10-year reunion perhaps?  Why not just fib a little and make it the 15 year reunion?  Sure, it's been 13 years since the first American Pie, but is accuracy really the most important thing here?

They do manage to get the entire cast back together, but that seems like more of a reflection of the fact that none of these guys had much else going on.  It's kind of ironic that the biggest current star from the original cast, John Cho ("MILF!"), was only a bit part in the first movie.  Throughout the film they will randomly throw in a character from the series.  Towards the end, when certain characters show up, it felt more like they were just trying to fill a quota.  Like a teacher doing roll call and making sure everyone is in attendance.

There's not much to the plot either; they reunite, drink and party, and move from one awkward situation to the next.  Here's the biggest problem: when American Pie came out in 1999, it was a fresh and fun take on raunchy teen comedies.  The material, and sadly many of the actors, hasn't aged well.  Also, you have many more people out there that are doing much better versions this genre to compare it against.  You really have to have good material and unfortunately, this doesn't deliver.  There some some mildly amusing things here and there, but the movie barely got more than a chuckle out of me or seemingly anyone else in the theater.  There's nothing new here and you've seen it all before.  As with the previous films, the highlights are when Stifler (Seann William Scott) or Jim's Dad (Eugene Levy) are on screen.

When the movie is nearly two hours long, the lack of comedy really starts to wear on you.  It tries to be a little more poignant and thoughtful towards the end, but it didn't seemed earned.  This is due in large part to a pet peeve I have about movies where a misunderstanding occurs and it's something that could be cleared up with just a line of dialog or simple conversation.  Instead, someone storms off without listening to what the other person has to say.  It's a lazy way to have conflict in your movies.

It doesn't help that writer Adam Herz, from the first three films, is not back this time. Reunion was written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who already haven't impressed me with their work on the Harold and Kumar series.  In the hands of a better writing team, this could have been so much more.  Hurwitz and Schlossberg are capable of writing funny things, but it seems like they miss more than they hit.  Perhaps these guys would work better writing shorter sketches.

While you don't watch an American Pie movie expecting great acting, seeing all these guys back together really makes you aware at how bad some of them are, and why you haven't seen them much outside of this series.  Chris Klein really is a terrible actor.  This isn't a surprise to anyone that's seen his recent movies, but when you stand out as the worst actor even among this group (Mena Suvari, Tara Reid, Alyson Hannigan), then it's really bad.  These guys make Jason Biggs look like a capable actor.

It felt like the real star here is Ali Cobrin, who plays the girl next door that Jim used to babysit.  Without spoiling too much, she shows off her assets in a part of the film that will be sure to please most every guy watching the movie.

American Reunion is like going for that last piece of Pie when you're already full.  It's a little cold and tough to get down, but still tastes okay.  It was nice seeing the gang back together, but it would have been better to see them in a funnier movie.  I always say stuff like this, Reunion is not awful, but it could have been so much more.  I'm just disappointed.  If you're a fan of the series, you'll get some entertainment out of this latest installment, but even then I still think it's better suited as a rental.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Goon - Movie Review

Do you want to see a softer side of Stiffler while still punching people in the face? By the way, is anyone besides me looking forward to the return of the 'one true Stiffler' in American Reunion next month?

Goon is based on the book "Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey Into Minor League Hockey" by Adam Frattasio and Doug Smith. Seann William Scott plays Doug Glatt (based on the real Doug Smith), a simple guy working as a bouncer in a local bar. Doug's not the brightest bulb, but he's very aware of this and is generally a nice and polite kid. He's also a bit of a disappointment to his father (an underused Eugene Levy), as he wants him to be a doctor like his brother.  However, Doug understands that's he just not smart enough to be one.

Doug spends his time hanging with his best friend Pat (Jay Baruchel, who was also co-writer), who runs a hockey site and call in show.  Pat is a bit of foul loudmouth, but it's mostly for laughs and to get underneath people's skin.  One night at a local hockey game, Pat's heckling gets the best of a player and he goes into the stands to fight him. Doug steps in, as that's the type of guy he is, and proceeds to beat the living tar out of the guy.  Impressed by this, the head coach and asks him to try out for the team. The problem: Doug isn't a hockey player.  He can barely skate initially.  That doesn't matter to Coach, because his role is to be the team's new enforcer, or goon.

Now I'm not a huge hockey fan, but my understanding has always been that the job of the goon is to basically go into the game and start a fight with an opposing player that has it coming or intimidate them.  Goons are usually very popular with the fans.  They bring the blood.  Doug excels in his new role and quickly gains the affection of the fans.  This gets him a promotion to a paid, minor league club that hopes his toughness will inspire some of his new teammates.

Seann William Scott seems like a natural fit here. As I mentioned earlier, despite that fact that he's basically a dumb brute, there's an innocence about Doug that makes it hard not to root for him.  He's socially awkward and seems to be uncomfortable in his own skin at times.  Like imagine a big, dumb guard dog.  This is the type of guy that would take a bullet for you or beat the living hell out of some guy giving you shit.

There's also a subplot involving his pursuit of Eva (Allison Pill), that shows you how Doug is just too damn nice.  His behavior puts Eva off, even though she normally likes hockey players due to their bad boy nature. She's not used to nice guys, so Doug's a bit of an enigma for her, despite his simplicity.  When Eva rejects Doug, you actually feel bad for him.  Allison Pill's 'Eva' is a little messed up herself, but her self-awareness makes you forgive her a bit.  Pill really seems to improve in each movie I've seen her in recently.

Liev Schreiber also stars as Ross Rhea, an aging goon that Doug has looked up to. There's a passing of the guard element between those two and a showdown that the movie sets up from the opening moments. Until I had seen Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (a movie I still HATE), I never would have bought him in a physical role. Schreiber's not in it as much as I would have liked, but when he's on screen it feels like he's the man.

As I mentioned earlier, Eugene Levy is totally underused here.  It's really my only complaint about anyone in the cast.  He's only in two or three scenes and given nothing funny to do, except be the disapproving father.  It seems like a waste to cast someone with Levy's comedic chops for a role like this.

There are quite a few laugh out loud moments and a lot of the humor came from the silliness of Doug's teammates. I'm actually kind of surprised it wasn't funnier as Baruchel's co-writer was Evan Goldberg, who's also co-written movies like Pineapple Express and Superbad.  It shares the same vulgarity as those movies, which may be a turn off if you're someone that doesn't like liberal use of 'F-bombs'.  Don't get me wrong, it's a funny movie, but it's just missing a little something.  Perhaps they should have brought in Seth Rogen to help punch it up.

I liked Michael Dowse direction here.  This is a brutal and bloody movie at times.  There's lots of fighting, but he balanced it well with the humor and aforementioned sweetness of the characters.  Even the opposing goons in the movie come off as nice guys when they aren't fighting.  There's an honor about what they do.

It's been a while since I've seen a good hockey comedy. I wonder why that is? It seems like hockey is a sport just rife with opportunities for comedy. Perhaps it's mainly due to it not being as popular in the US?  There's Slap Shot and now Goon.  That's it.  Those are the only two I can think of.  The nice thing about Goon is that you don't actually have to be a hockey fan to enjoy it. It's not quite the laugh riot I was expecting, but there's an underlying sweetness that makes the movie stand out from other sports comedies.  It should be On Demand as we speak. I recommend checking it out.

3.5 (out of 5) Death Stars