Review: "American Reunion"

After 13 years, two sequels, and a string of direct to video spinoffs, American Reunion brings the American Pie series to the finish line, coasting on fumes. With a healthy dose of nineties nostalgia, it brings all the key players from the original film back for another helping of bad behavior, half-witted hijinks, and uncomfortable father-son chats.

Time has been mostly kind to the young actors, who seem to have no problems getting back into character for one more go at it. Jason Biggs and Alyson Hannigan return as Jim and Michelle, who have been in a sexual rut since their son was born. The reunion gives them a chance to get away from the daily grind in an attempt to rekindle some passion. Eddie Kaye Thomas' character Finch has been traveling the world, but somehow finds his way back to East Great Falls for the event. This go-round he's finding love with an old classmate and leaving the memory of Stiffler's mom behind him. Sean William Scott has had (arguably) the most success of the original "Pie" gang and after seeing him in so many films since, I have gained a little more respect for how he gleefully wears "The Stifmeister" like a dirty t-shirt that he has to constantly rescue from his mother's trash can. Stifler's in-your-face personality served him well as the popular high school jock, but is making life a bit difficult for him as he serves as the low man on the corporate totem pole. Thomas Ian Nicholas and Tara Reid are back as Kevin and Vicki, but neither one has much to do here. Like some of the more peripheral characters (Sherman, Nadia, etc.) they're really here just so the film can boast that the whole gang is back. Chris Klein skipped out on American Wedding, but returns here as Oz, the hunky sportscaster with GQ looks and an "aw shucks" softer side that the women really go for. He seems to have the life he always wanted, but a part of him has never gotten over Mena Suvari's character, Heather, who has also returned, new boyfriend in tow for the gang's 13th reunion.

What school has a 13th reunion anyway? The original film did come out in 1999, but it bugged me a little that they felt the need to be so literal about the passage of time. If they had waited one more week, they could've released the film on Friday the 13th to drive the point home. That may have been more fitting because at one point during the film, while the characters are at a high school party talking about Twilight around a campfire, I was literally hoping that Jason Vorhees would show up and use this aging group of turds-and-nerds as target practice, Crystal Lake style.

I digress.

This is one of those series that has bought into its own formula and if you've seen the first one, you already know what to expect. Sort of like comedic comfort food for the "millennium teens," I suppose. The characters haven't changed any, which is a shame, because the fascinating thing about reconnecting with old friends is seeing how they've grown and become different versions of the people you once knew. There's a half dozen different ways they could've made this picture more interesting, but Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the duo responsible for both writing and directing the picture, didn't have enough confidence to bring much fresh material to the project. It would've been nice if they had allowed the movie to grow up a bit with the audience, giving viewers the chance to empathize with characters who are just figuring out how quickly time flies, and that adulthood kinda sucks.

What you're left with is a missed opportunity, a movie that has some funny moments and will feel cozy and familiar to those who love the first film, but won't leave you with anything more memorable than the second and third installments. While the film does leave open the possibility of more "reunions," its ending does feel like a conclusion to the series in many ways. If, however, the film is an overwhelming box office success, we could be in for American Pie: The Musical or Divorce American Pie Style. Unlikely though, as the film offers us nothing more than a piece of the same old pie.

Review: GOON

Doug Glatt (Seann William Scott) is one of those guys you love to have on your side. He's not especially bright, but he's easy-going, tough as nails, and loyal to his friends. He works as a bouncer in a local bar and likes to hang out with his pal, Ryan (Jay Baruchel), who hosts a public access television show about hockey called "Hot Ice." While attending a semi-pro game one night, Ryan's heckling gets Doug involved in an altercation where he knocks a player out cold. As a result, Doug gets a call for a tryout to be the team's "enforcer" - the guy whose job is to hit hard and sacrifice himself for the good of the team. Although he is a terrible hockey player, Doug excels at fighting, and his reputation quickly earns him a contract with the Halifax Highlanders, a farm team for the NHL.

Life becomes more complicated for Doug after arriving in Halifax. Although he feels that his life finally has purpose, his parents don't approve of his choice of profession or his nickname, "Doug the Thug." His new teammates don't get along with each other, and his coach doesn't take him seriously. Even their star player, an NHL burnout named Xavier Laflamme (Marc-Andre Grondin) resents Doug because Doug's presence puts pressure on Laflamme to rise back to his former glory. The one bright spot is a new girl in his life named Eva (Alison Pill) who loves the hockey players and is drawn in by Doug's softer side, but already has a boyfriend. That's just this guy's luck.

As Doug's reputation grows, so does the anticipation for his eventual meeting with hockey's reigning god-of-war, Ross "The Boss" Rhea (Liev Schreiber), who is back after a long suspension, playing for a rival team. Rhea's career is on the decline just as Doug's is taking off - a movie cliche to be sure, but an effective one. The entire film builds to that moment, when the two men will shake off their gloves and square off at the center of the ice.

Hockey's draw for the casual fan is the physicality and occasional violent eruptions, which the filmmakers take full advantage of for comedic effect. Many fights only last a few seconds, but each one has a little twist that distinguishes it from the others. The film portrays the role of the "enforcer" as a necessary component for success in the sport. Something readily accepted by Doug, who explains, "If they need me to bleed, they I'll bleed for my team." And bleed he does.


The story, from a book by Doug "The Hammer" Smith and Adam Frattasio, is based on the minor league exploits of Smith. The film was directed by Michael Dowse (Take Me Home Tonight) and written by frequent Apatow contributors Evan Goldberg and Jay Baruchel. Ultimately, there's a very real love for hockey on display in the film, but this is not a case where you need a working knowledge of sports jargon like red lines, blue lines, and power plays. Goon may rely too heavily on the conventions of the sports movie, but it's pleasant enough to mildly recommend on the strength of a few good laughs and a surprising amount of heart.

"The Hunger Games" Reviewed

The Hunger Games is set in the future after something - that is never fully explained in the film - has ended civilization as we know it. As society was rebuilt, it was carved into the 13 districts of Panem, each specializing in cultivating, producing, or mining a region-specific resource, but the rich got richer and the poor got poorer until the people rebelled. The Capitol was able to stop the uprising, but as punishment for those dark days and to remind the population of its power over them, the Hunger Games were created. Every year, one girl and one boy from each district, between the ages of 12 and 18, are selected to pay tribute by participating in a televised contest where they must fight to the death. A lone survivor is crowned champion, and their district is provided with special privileges and additional food for a year. The film begins right before the participants of the 74th Hunger Games are selected. It follows the two tributes from District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) as they travel to the Capital, prepare for the games, and fight for their lives.

It may be a bit of a stretch to believe Jennifer Lawrence, with her curvy, well-toned features, is a starving kid from a coal-mining town, but she really is terrific as Katniss, whose years of hunting in the wilderness have focused her senses and sharpened her instincts. Lawrence pulls it off admirably, her performance maintaining the character's vulnerability, while still projecting strength. Josh Hutcherson, a veteran of family films like Zathura and Journey to the Center of the Earth, is able to step into a more mature role and imbue it with a sad, but determined quality as Peeta, who feels overshadowed by the attention that Katniss receives, but understands the dynamics of playing the game better than she does.

The film also stars Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Wes Bently (Academy Award Nominee - Best Beard, 2012), Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland as the President of Panem. Special mention, however, should go to Woody Harrelson for his stellar work as Haymitch Abernathy, a former champion from District 12 who is tasked with preparing Katniss and Peeta not just for the games, but also for the media circus that surrounds their time at the Capital, which is like a futuristic version of the Roman Empire at the height of its decadence. Haymitch deals with his own demons by drinking them away each day, but regardless of whether he does so because of surviving the games or as a result of having to relive it each year, he is the example of the price ultimately paid by "winning."

The film was directed by Gary Ross (Seabiscuit, Pleasantville) who made a name for himself in Hollywood as a top-shelf screenwriter with hits like Dave and Big to his credit. He has always gravitated to stories that place more emphasis on one, or just a few characters instead of sprawling epics or plot-driven pictures. It comes as no surprise then, that his focus is solely on the character of Katniss, using her journey as the backbone for his approach to the story, both visually and dramatically. It's clear from the first scene that this is her story; even the time we spend with Peeta, the only other main character, is done purely through her point of view. This helps to eliminate unnecessary subplots, but also makes it difficult to develop a villain, the lack of which is the film's major weakness.

There's no one to root against. The other tributes are really just obstacles, not characters. The rich socialites of the Capital city are sick and out of touch, enjoying this perverse brutal entertainment, but they are just an audience, no better or worse than those who watched the gladiators in ancient times. The game-masters are just following orders, maximizing the entertainment value by stacking the odds in favor of the audience, and the President is trying to keep the peace and follow customs that were put in place years before he took charge. Like our current worldwide economic meltdown, there is no one person to point a finger at; it's a combination of things that allow the Hunger Games to continue in Panem. Very realistic, but it's tough to wring drama out of gray areas, and a bit more focus on giving the audience someone to dislike would have strengthened the picture.

The Hunger Games will draw comparisons to films like The Running Man and the Japanese cult hit, Battle Royale, but what separates it from those films, is a determination to stay as intimate as possible from the opening scene to the closing credits. This may disappoint fans who are looking for more brutality, since a lot of that happens offscreen, but considering the core audience is teens, there is a threshold for the level of gore that can be shown. It seems a successful approach though, because they're able to use techniques that depict violence in a way that maintains the emotional impact without soaking the screen in blood.

8.4/10

In Theaters: CHRONICLE

Andrew (Dane DeHaan) is a struggling teen with no friends, a mother who is dying, and a father who drinks too much. He buys a video camera to CHRONICLE his life and is intent on documenting everything, starting with his father's abusive nature. The camera seems to bring only more unwanted attention from school bullies and his dad, and the only person who is nice to him, his cousin Matt (Alex Russell), is slightly annoyed by it at first. One night at a party, however, Matt and another classmate, Steve (Michael B. Jordan), stumble across a cavernous hole in the ground out in the woods. They decide to grab Andrew so that they can videotape their exploration of this mysterious underground cave and come across an unusual luminous crystal, which after being exposed to it, gives them all extraordinary powers.

The film uses the handheld video techniques pioneered by movies like “The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield”, using footage that the characters themselves shoot as the action progresses. I don’t want to digress from the movie too much, but it’s important to note that I am not a fan of these types of movies generally. The budget for tripods, dollys, and steadicams has NEVER put a multi-million dollar movie over budget and the framework of being "found-footage" usually restricts filmmakers to uninteresting camera angles and unappealing visuals. This is simply an aesthetic choice that I rarely see as a benefit to any full-length film.

The director of CHRONICLE, Josh Trank, and its writer, Max Landis, seem to have an understanding of those limitations, however, and are even able to successfully cheat around them by having the characters use their powers to levitate the camera. Instead of one person always being behind the camera, this cleverly places all three main characters into the action and allows for smoother camerawork and angles you could never get away with otherwise.

The film works surprisingly well as we discover who these characters are, how they attain their powers, and what happens to their dynamic as they begin to experiment and strengthen their powers. The film does a nice job of taking a realistic look at what teens might do with that type of ability as they start out by knocking each other around in the backyard and pulling off pranks on unsuspecting shoppers at the store. With the exception of one grave reminder of how dangerous these powers could be, it's harmless fun that becomes infectious in a very “boys will be boys” sort of way.

As the film pushes into its dark final act though, it begins to run out of fresh ideas, giving into big-budget envy as it builds to a traditional large-scale action movie ending. It’s not bad, but it feels lazy when compared to the rest of the film as the main characters are forced into traditional good guy or bad guy clichés. The film’s narrative approach even switches gears from “found footage” to a more documentary-like style, using multiple camera sources including cell phones and security feeds.

Overall, CHRONICLE is a smart, entertaining movie which overcomes some, but not all, obstacles inherent to the “found footage” genre and should be measured as a success for everyone involved. The young actors each impressed me in different ways, and the filmmaking duo of Max Landis and Josh Trank is one to watch.

7.9/10 (B-)