The Reel Rejects - AMERICAN REUNION (2012) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

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Starting point is 00:01:10 Are you ready to get reunited? No one is ready to go to a reunion, all right, but I am ready to go to one with you. I'm ready to go with one with you. A with union. Reunited in three, two, one. Let's go. If you're listening on Apple or Spotify, give us five stars. We just watched American Reunion. That's right. We did.

Starting point is 00:01:38 And it was such a good time. I had so much fun. I had a blast. My heart is full. My heart is full, too, dude. Yeah. So it was so good. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:01:47 Ah. Nah, I mean, this was the perfect cherry. Huh? Yeah, no, this is like the perfect cherry. Like, I know that there are spinoffs and things. But, you know, for the main franchise, like, this was so charming. It's so fun. It was, dude.

Starting point is 00:02:00 I would not be mad. I think this is a great, like, button to, like, this series, but if they made another one, I wouldn't be mad. But I like the way that this ends. Like, this is good. Yeah, it's like I've grown to really enjoy hanging out with the crew and, you know, seeing the hijinks and getting invested in whatever little, you know, romantic spats that they're in. But, yeah, like, this was a really nice full circle. Just, it makes a lot of sense to do the reunion. and to bring everybody back

Starting point is 00:02:31 and especially with the time gap obviously we didn't live through it the same way watching these in real time but like it does feel like a kind of special coming back home you know sort of yeah you still get that that rewarding feeling

Starting point is 00:02:44 of having everybody come together yeah and you feel how far we it's like you've got all the callbacks and stuff but you also feel how far we've come and how much they've let these characters grow and like the most joyous surprise of all of this has been that like

Starting point is 00:02:58 Yeah, these are raunchy comedies, of course. They're cringe and gross out at times. But I was surprised during the first one with the amount of heart. And, yeah, like this, there's more to this than I had expected, which I am very happy about, which I'm very pleased about. Yeah. Because, you know, I could, and I haven't seen any of the straight to video spin-off sequels and stuff like that. I expect those to be like, you know, softcore, glorified softcore movies with like a little bit of plot. as these like as yeah like raunchy and as graphic at times as they can be never lose sight of

Starting point is 00:03:36 the coming of age quality and even through something like this when they're a little bit older like coming of age is something you're always doing at different walks of life and so yeah to get to the end of these and to be like you know I feel like we really did kind of grow and you know go on journeys with these characters and stuff like that like as a culmination this is so much more rich than I ever would have expected and you know it's it's it's It's nice to have everybody back, and I thought the way that they did the, you know, all the tying up of things and bringing certain characters back in who we especially didn't see in the last movie and just paying off so many different little threads from the franchise, like, in a time and place now where we get so many legacy sequels and stuff like that that have to do that. This was cool because, like, this is, I think, slightly before, obviously the moment in time where, like, legacy sequel is like a third. thing, like a lane, like a thing that is, that are constantly happening, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:32 whereas this feels like, oh, yeah, we just came back after a while and made a fourth movie. And so with that, all the little callbacks and all the little payoffs and stuff, like, really felt earned and really felt, yeah, just like of greater substance than just like, aha, look at that, you know. And, yeah, it just increased the joy and, again, the sort of, I don't know, just the heft of the journey. thus far you know through the ups and downs and through all the craziness yeah man i i wholeheartedly agree i was thoroughly surprised by this movie and it's made the journey worth it because we have seen these characters through high school college marriage and now reuniting in their 30s possibly 40s

Starting point is 00:05:18 i don't know but the thing that made it the most enjoyable for me is that this franchise understood its characters and even through a different writing team team having everybody back it was able to mature but while maintaining the essence of what we like about these characters and what made them appealing in the first place sure so the movie just ended with the georgia sign which is kind of funny to end on a peach ah anyway nice got to stay on brand yeah stay on brand with it absolutely uh but yeah i think maybe reasoncy biases were just coming off of it and i didn't grow up with the series like everybody else did and neither did john but you know through watching these films i have to say i

Starting point is 00:06:01 think this is my favorite of the four i would agree i think that yeah it goes four one to wedding yes yeah i would agree with that yeah man it which is it just really surprised me because it's still funny but while having this new voice about it that feels like we're with these characters now like I related to it and it still maintained that element of it being a sex comedy and being like way over the top and all that stuff.

Starting point is 00:06:30 Exactly. Being way over the top while having its gags while bringing back that heart like in full because we see these characters in the first movie and like it's about like

Starting point is 00:06:40 them all trying to lose their virginity for the first time and we even though Stifler is there he's even he got an arc in this movie and granted he did he get an arc in the last one sure you could say that he did but I feel like they definitely amped him up

Starting point is 00:06:53 because that's the only way they would get him back by giving him more screen time and I feel like he overshadowed the wedding even though Jim and what's his wife's name Michelle Michelle were definitely the front leads on the cover there but yeah I feel like for the most part

Starting point is 00:07:10 this was a well-balanced movie or very well-paced movie between all of our characters even though Jim is obviously still the lead I feel like we still got to have all these characters have their time like I feel like if anybody got kind of short change i would say finch because he was i feel like he's more prominent in the in two and three and

Starting point is 00:07:29 then he kind of um he did he did he have a love interest yeah but i think i he's my favorite character i would say out of everybody it's the least finch centric the least finch centric for sure for sure but i still think he was great in the movie i think everybody was was was um was very well served and i like the fact that we got back to basics while putting the relationship of these guys at the forefront because having them all bounce off of each other was great. Also, it was great to have Chris Klein back. I feel like this is the best he's been since the first one and having Heather back as well. Like, okay, finally they have something to do with these two because I feel like they were just in the second one.

Starting point is 00:08:07 They were like, all right, we're just going to keep them in here, and they're going to meet a long distance, and everything's going to work out. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I think that the fact that they were able to have them all go through these sexcapades, While it not feeling, I don't feel like juvenile is the word, but I feel like the original ones were funny, and I did laugh a lot. There's also element for like, oh, what is mean? This is like the 2000s. It's a bit high school and it's in its tone of humor.

Starting point is 00:08:41 Yeah, and the timbre of the humor, whereas this still has that, but it feels like it's coming from a perspective of someone who has lived through that, progress past it, back on it yes and i just think it's funny that the guys who did cobra kai did this because like they seem to have a thing for bringing back franchises and adding new life and life and new depth into them which is pretty which is pretty cool the fact that they did something like american pie found a way to make it contemporary while still maintaining the soul of what the franchise was about in the first place with its as characters yeah not only still remaining who they are at their

Starting point is 00:09:20 core but growing and being even probably possibly even more relatable than they were in the other movies. Yeah. Yeah. Like they, I think those guys have a good grip on how to like stay true to the spirit of the original thing

Starting point is 00:09:35 poke some knowing fun at that and also then take it and earnestly you know continue the story and actually care for the heart of it you know because yeah like this is a franchise I feel like they could have gone way off the rails or just devolved into I feel like there are less excuses you have to make for these movies than I would have

Starting point is 00:09:57 expected like they're way less problematic than I had anticipated even and yeah just like there's something about I think it is interesting the way that they have with this like it's just as raunchy in a lot of ways as the other ones it doesn't lose that at all it doesn't like give that up and yet it does feel a bit different in how it just moves through all that stuff, like without taking out the fun of that stuff and without taking out the part that does, you know, resonate with the 13-year-old boy and all of us, you know?

Starting point is 00:10:33 Yeah, it's sort of has some of that for sure. Yeah, but like, yeah, flipping the advice bit around with dad, I thought was beautiful. Yeah. Love that. And even stuff like, like, I thought, it's weird. Like, even though wedding could have been better, I feel like the circumstances that made that movie what it was kind of help this movie to feel that much more rewarding when everybody comes back and when the dynamics change back.

Starting point is 00:10:58 And two, I think that this one probably since the first one, this might be the best paced out of all of them. Oh, 100%. There's no scene in here that I was like, okay, this is going on long, you know. It wasn't bits for bits sake. Grin there were bits, but like they still added to the story. And this is the unrated cut. This is like the place where things get added back in that didn't need to be there or get lengthened, you know, just because we have the footage.

Starting point is 00:11:26 And like even in this cut, I didn't feel like it was overstaying its welcome or any one gag. Like, I feel like each movie has like one scene that goes on. And in this movie, it would be the sneaking the girl back into her parents' house, the babysitting girl back into her parents' house. But even that was like tight enough that it wasn't, you know, over long or over-radictitious. Yeah. It was like a ridiculous, but like, yeah, not in a way that like broke out of the reality of the movie or anything like that. Yeah. And I think whereas the at least maybe two and three, the movie has a bit and the movie kind of pauses to then have its bit execute. I feel like this one had their bits, yes, but I feel like it definitely served either the character's relationships or their arcs as well. now my my my the two biggest surprises for me and some versions that gave me the most joy where we're so accustomed to this thing of at the end of the movie fitch hooks up with with stifler's mom and like that's the thing he has over stifler and like yeah like oh this is cool but the thing is because the franchise has matured like okay it's like a guy now one stiffler needs to mature but but that aside um fitch having sex with

Starting point is 00:12:46 somebody else and not his mom serves to his arc of finding love but also the fact that Stiffler's mom and Jim's dad getting together that made me really happy because like we've seen these two characters obviously serve different roles within the story being like characters of

Starting point is 00:13:05 heightened sexual knowledge and experience for them to finally come together in the fourth movie I wasn't upset to see Finch not with Stifler's mom because one look yeah we've been there we've done that three times and I think we'd have been doing it just for the sake of having it back it was fun but because the stories are maturing I like the fact that we have these two characters together now also the popcorn bit was so funny I was so good and they'd be so happy but also because stiffler has grown but not too much because he's still Stifler yeah just enough the reversal of him now having sex with his mom is great oh yeah I was so happy. Stiflor and Finch's mom.

Starting point is 00:13:48 Absolutely. Like, what a, oh, like, yeah, what a great tie around. And two, to get Rebecca DeMorne, who has, you know, been in lots of stuff. He's certainly a bit of a veteran actress at this point. It's a nice counter to Jennifer Coolidge. And, too, I mean, just as a fan of various Christopher guest movies, I was struck like, oh, that's right. They're both in this franchise, and they're both, like, iconic characters in their own way. And now to get them together, there's like a meta layer to that.

Starting point is 00:14:16 to me that i think is really fun and yeah even with a stifler type character like they mature him but not so much that again it's on it doesn't work for the character or it feels like you're betraying the character or like oh man like you know they they ruined him like he's still him and like when he gets to tell off his boss that's fun and rewarding and they yeah they they find ways throughout these movies and and again i know i brought up the hangover three example last time of like increasing the role and the presence of a character like this can go very wrong because it's a small dose character or at least a character that often works best in small doses and so like here I thought that yeah they matured him in just the right ways and they get to the heart underneath him and so like it could feel a lot more requisite and a lot more trite than being like you know what you're an asshole but you're our asshole I know I'm censoring this for the discussion but like I thought they actually

Starting point is 00:15:14 really well sold that like i could exactly get why you wouldn't want this guy around and want to invite him anywhere but by the end i was like you know what y'all have been through a lot together and like it's kind of fun to see you all sitting here and chill in and and yeah it leaves off in that place where it's like yeah we could do this again like part of the sign-off you know let's meet up every year to me i was like oh just do one of these every year you know hang out with the friends and while i i'm happy for the main franchise to kind of rest here unless they have a tremendous this idea of what to do next. Like, it is that place of like,

Starting point is 00:15:46 I would happily watch more of these. But also, I think, it's really nice that they got to stick a landing. And, you know, they manage, I think, the great sort of, there's the teen sex comedy, and then there's the sex comedy. And I feel like what they did nicely with this

Starting point is 00:16:02 as a franchise was to, like, start it out in teen territory. But just keep embracing it, like, sexuality exists through all of life. And, like, there's different obstacles and, you know, risks and rewards as you age and as you, you know, get into new walks of life. And so I think subtly they've, subtly of spirit in, you know, a broadly toned series. They have managed to kind of, yeah, every walk of life embrace some new aspect of how you're still coming of age or figuring it out.

Starting point is 00:16:34 Or, you know, Jim and Michelle are having, like, hard time getting time to be together, to be intimate with each other. and now they've sort of compartmentalized that into, you know, solo activities, or, you know, Jim's dad is mourning for his lost love and, you know, needs to get back out there. Stifler, you know, even Stifler has, like, one who got away or something, or, but most interestingly, Kevin and Oz, I think, are the two guys. I mean, Jim has a lot of heart, but through them especially, I feel like you get to explore appropriately for what kind of movie this is, you know, those, those lingering. attachments and, you know, the ones that after so long you want to come back to as well as the ones after so long that you need to, you know, let rest in the past, even though there's still a part of your life and your love for a person or something like that. Like I thought actually in this Oz and Kevin were a nice yin yang, like they really complimented each other. Because, you know, obviously they're both hung up on girls from the past and one of them needs to kind of come just to terms with that with the other person so that they can, you know, at ease to be friends now here in the present versus the other one who does just want that person who is exactly right for his spirit

Starting point is 00:17:49 and the fact that Oz has like this girlfriend who is so wild and such a free spirit and all that stuff and it's just not the right match you know and I thought that was like a nice nuance for them to explore and it was fun to see it's like I feel like Mina Savari got a bit more to do than Tara Reid

Starting point is 00:18:05 but even that still I thought was like nice again these nice layers of things and like, you know, even the misunderstandings and the weird hijinks and the stuff that drives Jim and Michelle apart. Like, I felt for that stuff, you know, and they, this one whipped up chaos in a really conscientious way, you know, because sometimes, like, the chaos of the series is most often funny in some way or another and enjoyable in some way or another. But this was chaotic in a way that felt like the people making it had a pretty streamlined, you know, formation on how to communicate at all. You know, things can be chaotic of tone without being chaotic in execution. I guess is what I'm trying to say. And this didn't feel chaotic in execution, even though chaos is part of the joy of these, you know, movies. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm excited to shout out today's sponsor because it is an app that I have been using since before we partnered with them, which just makes my job easy. And I just get to share with you something I really do love.

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Starting point is 00:20:57 Payton non-client endorsement compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Investing involves risk. Acorns advisor LLC and SEC registered investment advisor, view important disclosures at acorns.com slash rejects. I highly recommend this app. So please go ahead, download it. Thank you again. I heartily agree. I think that this movie exceeded on all levels and the fact that it's able to still maintain that chaos while maturing is awesome. And yeah, I'd like to see another one. I mean, I don't need another one if they make it cool.

Starting point is 00:21:29 But I'll be happy if they all come back. I get to see Stifler planning weddings. Yeah, I get to see Stifler planning weddings. And even those little character, like those two guys from around, then they got married. or they're going to get married, that's great. And then John Cho is like hanging out the whole movie waiting for his little buddy to come back and then that seat at the end

Starting point is 00:21:48 where they're just saying milk to each other. Like it's so absurd and silly, but it's like just the right amount of absurd for what this, again, is. It's embracing what we know of the past and commenting on it a little bit, but in like an earnest and sweet kind of way. Yeah, the fact that everybody came back was great.

Starting point is 00:22:08 It made me happy. Even Nadia, we were waiting for that. I thought they were going to do it. Nadia, it was great. So happy for her. It was beautiful. And I wonder, I do wonder where we are in relation to Harold and Kumar because we had Joncho and N.P.H.

Starting point is 00:22:21 We got an N.P.H. Camio in this movie. He did. We did. Yeah. Okay. Do we want to do a couple facts? Let's do some facts. Let's see what we got. We started this with facts.

Starting point is 00:22:32 We're going to end it off with some facts. Yeah. It turns out none of the original cast was invited back. and then they all staged some kind of riot outside the studio until they let them. That was not a good joke, but I'm typing at the same time. So, you know, you guys can deal with that. All right, American Reunion Facts. Let's go.

Starting point is 00:22:55 They originally wanted Ralph Machio to star in this movie. Just kidding. At eight films, Eugene Levy has become the only actor to be in every film in the American Pie. Fram Chies. that's wild that's wild and when was this fact written because how many more there can't only be eight of them now there's got to be a whole bunch more uh when the song the same song is playing at the reunion when oz and heather start dancing as was playing when they got together after the prom in the first movie the song is called sway performed by bick runga absolutely this is that

Starting point is 00:23:31 yeah this this movie knew where to call back and where to take a left turn to i think Which is a good sense to have. Chris Klein did his own dancing for Oz's celebrity dance-off routine. Klein went to dance workshops with choreographers as well as adding his own moves to fit with his character. However, his routine was shortened in the final cut. Well, not in the unrated cut, I assume. Hopefully. Let's go.

Starting point is 00:23:56 This was originally tended to be the final chapter in the American Pie Saga. Was it changed? Is that not the case anymore? I guess counting the spinoffs. They've continued to make these But I mean it seems Certainly unless we're missing something like the four movies are the main saga This is the first movie in the American Pie franchise

Starting point is 00:24:16 That you see Stiffler and his mother communicating with each other directly In the first movie he walks in on her and Finch But you only hear Finch's voice Every other time Stifler either references her Or he's not around when she turns up So that's a fun one Though they both appear in all the theatrical film in the American Pie series. I guess that's the distinction. Theatrical versus straight-to-video

Starting point is 00:24:39 series. This marks the first time Jennifer Coolidge and Eugene Levy share any scenes together. In real life, the two are frequent co-stars, absolutely. Of the main cast, Eddie K. Thomas Finch is the only one who actually is of class, is class of 1999. That's fun. Sean William Scott appears to have a much more muscular physique in this film as opposed to the previous films. This is due to the fact that you've gained several pounds of muscle in preparation to play his role as a hockey enforcer in goon which i have heard is a terrific movie for so many years it's i i've only seen it the one time probably back in 2011 i don't remember i remember not a thing about it so if clearly it left an impression that would be i would be so down to watch to watch goon again like since it came out and it came out what straight to video or like a small theatrical release and since then i have heard about it so one day

Starting point is 00:25:35 A scene with Finch and Selena in the bathroom stall was filmed, but cut. It can be seen on the Blu-ray and DVDs deleted scenes if you want a little extra raunch there. Michelle's character, Alison Hannigan, is listed in the wish list as wanting to, quote, improve on all talents flute-related, referencing her famous line from American Pie. That, too, I want to go back and read all the different little, like, they cut to those wishes a few times. and like someone was like be the best pie makers so like they're clearly a bunch of joke ones. When Stifler meets Fitch's mom, Rebecca DeMorne for the

Starting point is 00:26:12 first time in the reunion, she says, are you ready for me Stifler? She famously used a similar line in risky business with Thomas the Cruz playing a prostitute Lana. She says, are you ready for me comma Ralph? I've not seen that movie. And to your point, despite

Starting point is 00:26:28 appearing on the movie's official poster Jessica and Tasha Leone has just a cameo appearance during the end of them. movie and also it's the only one where stifler is seen eating uh at dock years with them with the gang oh yeah yeah absolutely wow it's full circle in all four films they begin with an embarrassing moment involving jim getting caught out in a lovely act by a family member in american pie 99 jim's the tube sock and then the okay we know all this stuff we don't need that recap let's go to the let's go to the uh let's go to the uh let's

Starting point is 00:27:04 Let's go to the spoiler facts. Oh, and did Neil Patrick Harris? Duh is on How I Met Your Mother with Alison Hannigan. I wonder if that's, where are we in relation to how I met your mother, too? That's a good question. The only film, spoilers, that doesn't end with Finch making love with Stifler's mom. In fact, they never cross paths the entire film, though Finch does notice a framed photo of her in the house Corridor.

Starting point is 00:27:30 In an amusing twist, this movie ends with Stifler making love. with Finch's mom. Previous three of the primary We just, that's a repeat of last fact. Get it together American reunion facts. Jessica's lesbianism has secretly been hinted at in the previous films. In the first film while she's dancing with Finch, she said she has no date because she likes to keep her options open.

Starting point is 00:27:48 In the second film, good memory. Stifler asked how many girls she's been with. She sarcastically replied, gee, wouldn't you like to know? And she ultimately comes out as a lesbian in this film. More Power Tour. Always loves some Natasha Leon. final fact of the

Starting point is 00:28:06 spoiler section. Michelle Flaherty Allison Hannigan is the only main character of this movie without any reference to any kind of job occupation. That's a good call. I didn't even think about that. Jim works for Katz, Loon, and Soben advertising, although his position in the company is never

Starting point is 00:28:22 specified. Stippler is a temp Stifler, Staffler, is a temp at J.B. Global and is offered to become a professional party planner later in the movie. Oz is a sportscaster, Kevin's an architect. They do have one line of dialogue that. Finch eventually reveals that he's assistant manager for Staples. Vicki has been working for the same company in New York the last 10 years, although her actual jobs never specified. Heather works at a hospital, but her job title's never specified. Selina is a barmaid. Mia is a role model, is a model. Ron is a cardiologist. Everybody gets a job, but Michelle, because Michelle's job is being a mom, where women belong. This is the way of the world. That's what I say.

Starting point is 00:29:04 This is the way of the future. The way of the future. We did it, gang. We did it, gang. My heart is full. My heart is full. Our bottoms are full. And my stomach is empty.

Starting point is 00:29:17 Mine too. On that note, John and I are going to go to get some food. And it's been a fun time. I hope you guys see and come back in the next one. Let's do it.

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The Reel Rejects - AMERICAN REUNION (2012) MOVIE REVIEW!! FIRST TIME WATCHING!!

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