The Five-Year Engagement Review

Rated R (Sexual Content, and Language Throughout)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 4 Minutes

Cast-

Jason Segel-Tom Solomon

Emily Blunt-Violet Barnes

Chris Pratt-Alex Eilhauer

Alison Brie-Suzie Barnes-Eilhauer

Rhys Ifans-Professor Winton Childs

Mindy Kaling-Vaneetha

Randall Park-Ming

Kevin Hart-Doug

Chris Parnell-Bill

Dakota Johnson-Audrey

Lauren Weedman-Chef Sally

Mimi Kennedy-Carol Solomon

David Paymer-Pete Solomon

Jacki Weaver-Sylvia Dickerson-Barnes

Jim Piddock-George Barnes

Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt just can't seal the deal in "The Five-Year Engagement."

The movies have always provided an escape from the doldrums of everyday life where audiences often just want to snuggle up to a film that ends with happily ever after. The romance genre is particularly guilty of this but real life is fraught with turmoil and rarely, if ever, gives the happy ending people yearn for. What happens once the guy ends up with the girl of his dreams? This is the central premise of “The Five-Year Engagement” which reunites producer Judd Apatow with writer/director Nicholas Stoller and co-writer/star Jason Segel of “How I Met Your Mother” fame. Apatow is currently one of the biggest names in Hollywood with several of his comedy films receiving both critical and box office success such as 2005’s “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” 2007’s “Knocked Up,” 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” and last year’s “Bridesmaids.” His track record hasn’t been flawless as there are a handful of duds such as 2009’s “Year One” and “Funny People,” which failed to connect with audiences and received only mildly positive reviews. “The Five-Year Engagement” won’t be remembered as one of the best of Apatow’s productions due to its meandering pace, extraneous subplots, and overlong running time but the film still manages to offer up quite a few laughs thanks to its relatable cast while taking an honest and refreshing look at modern relationships and the sacrifices it entails. 

Tom Solomon (Jason Segel) and Violent Barnes (Emily Blunt) meet on New Year’s Eve at a ‘dress as your own superhero’ costume party in San Francisco and the two form an instant connection. They become engaged after dating for one year and happily plan for the wedding but discover that many of the venues are overbooked or have strange requirements. In the meantime, the couple throws an engagement party held at a bed-and-breakfast pub called The Drunken Pig but Violet discovers to her embarrassment that her sister Suzie (Alison Brie) spent the night with Tom’s best friend Alex Eilhauer (Chris Pratt), whom she deems a ‘moron.’ Tom and Violent find themselves having to put off their wedding when Violet is accepted for a post-doctorate position in psychology at the University of Michigan instead of Berkeley. Since the program lasts only two years, Tom agrees to move to Michigan with her, giving up his position as sous-chef‎ at the trendy restaurant he works in but he becomes disheartened when he learns that his boss had planned to make him the head chef. Suzie later reveals that she is pregnant after sleeping with Alex and the two hastily get married. Tom and Violet move to Michigan and discover that it is a big adjustment from San Francisco, especially during the winter. Violet easily settles in and is warmly greeted by the other graduate students led by a likable professor named Winton Childs (Rhys Ifans). However, Tom has difficulty getting used to life in Michigan and after facing several rejections, he manages to find employment at a popular deli. He continues to become more disillusioned with putting his career on hold and spends much of his time hunting deer with the other ‘faculty husbands.’ Tom and Violet finds their relationship strained the longer they stay in Michigan and begin to doubt whether they made the right choice in deciding to get married in the first place. 

Written by Nicholas Stoller (who also serves as director) and Jason Segel, “The Five-Year Engagement” is one of the few romantic comedies that offer an honest exploration on modern relationships and the sacrifices that couples make for each other in order to keep that initial spark alive. Part of the film’s appeal is that Tom and Violet are treated like real people who make mistakes because of their love for each other. Tom cares about Violet so much that he is willing to give up his successful career as a chef but a relationship (especially a marriage) cannot survive with one half always doing the sacrificing. Both have to compromise and find a middle ground because there will never be the ‘perfect’ relationship or marriage where nothing ever goes wrong. You have to actively work hard to achieve happily ever after. This is the main strength of “The Five-Year Engagement” and it is refreshing to see a mainstream film offer up a romantic comedy that is instantly relatable to adults but also has something intelligent to say on what constitutes a successful relationship. Unfortunately, the film suffers from a meandering pace with too much screen-time devoted to side characters that have little to no bearing on the overall plot other than to provide a few laughs. Granted, there are some genuinely funny moments to be had but outside of a lively conversation where Blunt and Brie imitate the voices of the Cookie Monster and Elmo, the comedy is rather low-key and can come off as awkward and out-of-place given the dour mood in the second half. This creates a feeling of inconsistency with jarring tonal shifts from scene to scene. At 2 hours and 4 minutes, the film begins to feel like a drag around the ninety-minute mark as there are fewer laughs to be had and would’ve benefited from some tighter editing. 

Despite its problems, “The Five-Year Engagement” is elevated by its great cast with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt making for an appealing and believable couple thanks to the excellent chemistry they share. What’s amazing is that both effortlessly convey a wide range of emotions from happiness to frustration in a way that rings true and allows the audience to root for them to come through even when their relationship threatens to go off the rails at any moment in time. Lifted from various popular comedy shows such as “Parks and Recreation” and “Community,” the supporting talent is equally as strong even if their function in the story can come off as largely superfluous. Chris Pratt and Alison Brie serve as a hilarious foil to Segel and Blunt’s characters, with Brie sporting a spot-on British accent that is adorably quirky. The banter between the graduate students, played by Mindy Kaling, Randall Park, and Kevin Hart provide some individually funny moments that keeps the film from being too depressing. Finally, there’s Rhys Ifans (starring in this summer’s “The Amazing Spider-Man”), who gives a solid, if unremarkable, performance as a suave psychology professor who inadvertently puts another dent in Tom and Violet’s already-crumbling relationship. 

Released on April 27, 2012, “The Five-Year Engagement” has received mildly positive reviews with 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics admitted that the film was ‘certainly overlong [but it] benefits from the easy chemistry of its leads and a funny, romantic script with surprising depth and intelligence.’ Although initially pegged to take the top spot during opening weekend, it ended up in fifth place with a disappointing $10.6 million but Apatow has dealt with his fair share of low debuts as this February’s “Wanderlust” also flopped with $6.5 million (it went on to earn only $20 million worldwide). The culprit lies with the deceptive marketing as Universal likened it to last year’s critically acclaimed “Bridesmaids” and even went so far as to use the same colors and typeface for its posters. The initial previews also proved to be less than compelling which led to disinterest among moviegoers, many of which decided to just wait an extra week for “The Avengers.” Fortunately, the film’s production budget was only $30 million so it’s not a big loss for the studio compared to “John Carter” for Disney. With a shorter running time and tighter pacing, “The Five-Year Engagement” could’ve been another winning Apatow-production rather than settling for above-average. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt are excellent thanks to their likable chemistry and heartfelt script but the comedy and drama never gel into a cohesive whole, making for an inconsistent film.

Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5

“I don’t think we can figure out all of our problems before we get married but I promise you that I will just love you every step of the way.”

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The Raven Review

Rated R (Bloody Violence and Grisly Images)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 51 Minutes

Cast-

John Cusack-Edgar Allan Poe

Luke Evans-Detective Emmett Fields

Alice Eve-Emily Hamilton

Brendan Gleeson-Captain Hamilton

Kevin McNally-Maddux

Oliver Jackson-Cohen-John Cantrell

Sam Hazeldine-Ivan Reynolds

Jimmy Yuill-Captain Eldridge

Directed by James McTeigue

Edgar Allan Poe...action hero!

‘And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting / On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door / And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming / And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor / And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted—nevermore!’ The following is the last stanza of The Raven, a narrative poem written 167 years ago in 1845 by Edgar Allen Poe, an American author and poet who is now famous for his macabre tales of mystery and is considered by many to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Poe is one of my favorite authors to read in literature class as I find the darkly violent tone that his short stories exude to be incredibly compelling. Although Poe became an instant household name thanks to the success of The Raven, the poem failed to bring him any significant financial success and the author continued to spend much of his life barely scraping by to make a living. He also passed away at the early age of 40 on October 7, 1849 with the cause of death remaining a total mystery even to this day. Whatever happened does not matter because Poe is now widely considered to be one of the most important figures in American literature, a status I believe that he would be proud of. You can also add ‘amateur detective’ to that mix thanks to the release of director James McTeigue’s “The Raven”, a film that has absolutely nothing to do with the poem its named after but is actually a fictionalized account of the final days of Poe’s life. Besides the endless barrage of sequels, prequels, and remakes, Hollywood has now taken to re-imagining historical figures for the masses, a trend that continues in this summer’s “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” from Timur Bekmambetov and producer Tim Burton. While there are some guilty pleasures to be had with “The Raven” thanks to its dark gothic visuals and bloody violence, the film ultimately collapses under the weight of its clunky script with a climax that proves to be unsatisfactory. 

Taking place in nineteenth century Maryland ten days before the sudden death of Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack), Inspector Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) arrives in Baltimore to investigate a gruesome double murder and discovers the crime bears a resemblance to Poe’s 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Meanwhile, a nearly penniless Poe bursts into a tavern to have a drink but the owner throws him out when he refuses to pay and causes a loud disturbance. The author’s stories and poems have not been published for some time, leaving him with no source of income. Poe has also fallen in love with the beautiful Emily Hamilton (Alice Eve) but her wealthy father (Brendan Gleeson) loathes his presence so much that he threatens the eccentric author with violence if he does not stop harassing his daughter. The serial killer strikes again sometime later and murders a literary critic named Griswold by slicing his body in half with a large swinging blade based upon The Pit and the Pendulum. Fields has Poe brought to his office and after determining that he cannot be the murderer, proposes that he volunteers his services to solve the mystery. Intrigued by the killer and having nothing better to do, Poe agrees to lend his assistance to the police. At the crime scene where Griswold was killed, Fields recovers a demonic red mask, a reference to The Masque of the Red Death, and Poe deduces that the murderer will strike again at the upcoming masquerade ball that happens to be held by Captain Hamilton. Despite the presence of Field’s undercover officers, the killer manages to kidnap Emily at the ball and issues a challenge: using clues left at each crime scene, Poe will write a new story that will blend fact with fiction in a warped attempt to be the author’s muse. Left with no choice, Poe agrees to do this while Fields races against time to bring the killer to justice and rescue Emily. 

As mentioned before, Poe is one of my favorite American authors and I approached “The Raven” with a cautious optimism. I enjoyed McTeigue’s directorial debut film “V for Vendetta” in 2006, based upon the late-1980’s comic book mini-series of the same name written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd but unfortunately, his latest film failed to meet my modest expectations. The script written by Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare is cobbled together from other (better) thrillers and desperately tries to be like a nineteenth century version of “Se7en” with its Jack the Ripper-like serial killer but the entire affair lacks any sense of imagination or even passion from McTeigue, whose style is workmanlike. Still, the film held my interest as I enjoyed all the references to Poe’s work, some of it obscure, although the stories chosen appear to be randomly cherry-picked by the writers without any thought to thematic coherence. However, “The Raven” collapses during the climax and the identity of the serial killer proves to be severely underwhelming as the character just pops up randomly in one scene and is revealed to be the murderer five minutes later. The idea of a thriller with Poe at the center has potential but the writers never take advantage of this and settle for conventionality. There are a few bright spots in the film such as McTeigue’s attention to detail in bringing nineteenth century Baltimore to life. The dark gothic visuals seemed to have leaped out of the pages of a Poe short story, although the numerous CG ravens flying about tend to be a bit much. There’s also plenty of blood and gore as we’re treated to extreme close-ups of severed heads and stuffed corpses. The pendulum scene is extremely grotesque yet visceral but this is ultimately blood for blood’s sake as it adds nothing significant to the film. 

As Edgar Allen Poe, John Cusack takes a page out of Nicholas Cage and Robert Downey Jr. that flip-flops from twitchy eccentricity to off-the-rails psychotic. Cusack often flies into scenery-chewing mode but he strangely remains compelling as the tortured artist who just wants some recognition despite the fact that this is a paycheck role for him. The writers also saw filled Poe’s dialogue with complex vocabulary but like the blood and gore, it once again adds little to the proceedings. Luke Evans is fine as the grim inspector but the rest of the cast play one-note characters that function as little more than mouth-pieces for plot exposition. The beautiful Alice Eve spends much of the film trapped in a coffin while Brendan Gleeson and Kevin McNally are underutilized. 

“The Raven” was released on April 27, 2012 to largely negative reviews with 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics derided it as ‘thinly scripted, unevenly acted, and overall preposterous, [the film] disgraces the legacy of Edgar Allen Poe with a rote murder mystery that's more silly than scary.’ It was originally set to be released back in March but was pushed forward to April, probably to avoid competition from “The Hunger Games.” However, opening the film just one week before the highly-anticipated “The Avengers” proved to be a mistake as it flopped at the box office with a paltry $7.3 million in seventh place during opening weekend. Fortunately, the production budget was only $26 million and Relativity Media purchased the rights for $4 million so it should recoup its costs but profit should not be expected. While “The Raven” is not as bad as the critics made it out to be, the film remains an underwhelming experience that liberally borrows from better thrillers and the workmanlike approach only makes it worse. Edgar Allen Poe would be shouting ‘NEVERMORE!’ as he rolls around in his grave.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

“No matter how this ends I will kill him.”

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Red Dawn (2012) Review

Rated PG-13 (Sequences of Intense War Violence and Action, and for Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 33 Minutes

Cast-

Chris Hemsworth-Jed Eckert

Josh Peck-Matt Eckert

Adrianne Palicki-Toni Mason

Josh Hutcherson-Robert Morris

Connor Cruise-Daryl Jenkins

Isabel Lucas-Erica Mason

Edwin Hodge-Danny Bates

Alyssa Diaz-Julie

Jeffrey Dean Morgan-Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Tanner

Brett Cullen-Tom Eckert

Will Yun Lee-Captain Lo

Matt Gerald-Hodges

Kenneth Choi-Smith

Directed by Dan Bradley

The fate of the United States rests in these kids' hands. Yea, I wouldn't even trust them with my mail.

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a nationwide televised address to the American public and announced that ‘it shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.’ The next day, U.S. naval ships set up a blockade (dubbed a quarantine by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral George Whelan Anderson Jr. since a blockade is considered to be an act of war according to international law) some 800 miles from the coast of Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both the United States and the Soviet Union showed no signs of budging until October 28, when Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev publicly agreed to dismantle all offensive weapons from Cuba while Kennedy promised that he would never again invade the country. The United States also secretly agreed to dismantle all intermediate range ballistic missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey. The so-called Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union defined the 20th century, with the two superpowers a hairs-breadth away from starting a nuclear conflict that could devastate the world. Disaster was thankfully averted in the last minute but in the world of Hollywood film, the Soviet Union launched a massive invasion upon the United States until they were repelled by a group of teenage guerilla fighters. Such a premise was explored in director John Milius’ “Red Dawn” starring Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey. Released on August 10, 1984, the film went on to become a box office success with a domestic gross of $38 million ($84 million adjusted for inflation) but received mixed reviews from critics with a current score of 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

During the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, MGM announced that a remake of “Red Dawn” was in the early stages of pre-production. With the collapse of communism in 1991, the only remaining nation that could challenge the United States on the global arena was China. The idea of having these two nations engage in an all-out war has been explored in other media such as video games, particularly the “Fallout” series but while such an event is plausible, it would be impractical for China to invade the United States. The two countries are too interdependent on each other to risk ruining their diplomatic relationship by resorting to war. The “Red Dawn” remake finished filming in 2009 under the helm of Dan Bradley but the film’s release was delayed indefinitely due to MGM’s financial troubles. Not helping matters was the controversial depiction of a United States being invaded by China. To maintain access to China’s lucrative box office, the villains were altered from Chinese to North Korean in post-production in March 2011. After being shelved for nearly two years, “Red Dawn” will finally be released on November 2, 2012 by FilmDistrict and Open Road Films. I managed to obtain tickets to an advanced screening six months ahead of its official release. While the film features plenty of loud explosions and shootouts, “Red Dawn” squanders much of its potential with its ridiculously cheesy gung-ho attitude, clichéd characters, and sanitized violence in order to appeal to a mass audience. 

With the United States caught in the grip of an economical crisis and mired in a number of conflicts around the world, the small communist nation of North Korea seizes the opportunity to build up its military forces. Meanwhile, the residents from the small town of Spokane, Washington are enjoying the local high school football game but the team’s star quarterback Matt Eckert (Josh Peck) fails to turn the tide. His father Tom (Brett Cullen), the town sheriff, brushes off the loss and praises his son for trying his best to win. Matt’s older brother Jed (Chris Hemsworth) comes home after his tour of duty in Iraq but the two have a tense relationship since their mother passed away. A blackout suddenly occurs and Tom is forced to spend the night keeping the peace, leaving his sons at home. Matt and Jed wake up the next morning to the sound of distant explosions and discover paratroopers landing throughout their hometown. Jed takes charge, taking as many of Matt’s friends with him and slipping away to the family cabin but his father ends up being captured by the invaders, who are revealed to be North Koreans led by Captain Lo (Will Yun Lee). The group gathers what supplies and weapons they can but Lo manages to find the cabin and holds Jed and Matt’s father at gunpoint to force them to surrender. Tom yells for his sons to fight back and is promptly shot in the head. Jed forms a ragtag group of teenage freedom fighters that includes his brother, Toni Mason (Adrianne Palicki), Robert Morris (Josh Hutcherson), and Daryl Jenkins (Conner Cruise). Dubbed the Wolverines (after their high school football team), they are trained in guerilla warfare tactics and begin harassing the North Korean forces occupying their hometown. However, Matt disobeys Jed by going off to save his girlfriend Erica Mason (Isabel Lucas), putting the rest of the group at risk. 

Before I begin, I just want to mention that I have not seen the original “Red Dawn” so I cannot comment on the similarities and differences the two may have. The idea of North Korea invading the United States is nothing new and was explored in the video game “Homefront” developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Ironically, John Milius served as writer for the story. Unfortunately, the game ended up devolving into a “Call of Duty” clone and faced middling reviews for squandering much of its potential with a four hour single-player campaign. “Red Dawn” faces a similar flaw and makes for a hollow viewing experience. Some may dub the film as a form of propaganda but it’s too dumb to function as a brainwashing tool. Given the fact that North Korea cannot even successfully launch a missile or feed its people, I find it hard to believe that such a small nation would have the manpower or technology necessary to engage in a full-scale invasion. It is later revealed that they had help from another country but it’s little more than an afterthought in the film. As a Chinese American, I admit that seeing China portrayed in an antagonistic light would’ve been somewhat uncomfortable but it does sound more plausible given the fact that they are a nuclear power like the United States. China has had a habit of casting foreigners in a bad light as well so this situation is nothing new for me. I also find it highly implausible that a ragtag group of teenagers suddenly became proficient in weapon use and guerilla tactics after a training montage that lasts roughly five minutes. The film is simplistic to a fault and makes no effort to really develop its villains beyond the fact that they are invading our country. This issue extends to the supporting cast as well as none of the characters are given any sense of depth with the exception of Hemsworth and Peck, making it hard to care about what they are going through. The story loses the opportunity to explore the moral grey area that separates terrorist from freedom fighter, with the Wolverines being branded by the former. The conflict between the two brothers is as clichéd as they come with one unable to put aside his emotions for the good of the team. One thing that “Red Dawn” does well is with the war scenes but Bradley’s camerawork is sometimes too schizophrenic and the PG-13 violence robs much of the impact due to the need to appeal to a wide audience. The film tries hard to be like “Black Hawk Down” but never rises above the level of “Battle: Los Angeles.” The gung-ho attitude proves to be cheesy as well, with characters shouting ‘WOLVERINES!’ like they’re at a school rally. “Red Dawn” is an old-school patriotic film and there’s nothing wrong with that but the whole experience feels detached, making it a lost opportunity to do something genuinely unique. 

Chris Hemsworth has been on a roll this year with “The Avengers,” “Snow White and the Huntsman,” “The Cabin in the Woods,” and now “Red Dawn.” Granted, the last two were completed back in 2009 but to have them all be released now is a brilliant use of timing. Hemsworth delivers a generally good performance, his chiseled good looks and sincere conviction makes him one of the few bright spots in the film. Josh Peck is a mixed bag and lacks the acting chops to handle the more dramatic scenes. The rest of the supporting cast includes the likes of Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson, Connor Cruise, and Isabel Lucas but their characters are too underdeveloped to leave much of impression despite sharing a good rapport with each other. Jeffrey Dean Morgan also pops up a marine who helps out during the climactic assault but it feels like he’s just picking up another paycheck given the screen-time he has. 

“Red Dawn” will be released into theaters on November 2, 2012 but yours truly managed to snag free tickets to a super advanced screening. The audience enjoyed the film and even applauded but honestly, standards have never been exactly high. While not a deal-breaker, an elderly woman also had to provide a running commentary on everything that was happening! I imagine the critics won’t be too impressed with the remake either seeing as how the original received a mixed reception. “Red Dawn” offers up plenty of explosive action but the film squanders its opportunity to create something truly unique about the post-9/11 world for jingoist cheese, which is real damn shame.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

“For them, this is just some place…but for us, this is our home!”  

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Safe Review

Rated R (Strong Violence Throughout, and for Language)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 34 Minutes

Cast-

Jason Statham-Luke Wright

Catherine Chan-Mei

Robert John Burke-Captain Wolf

James Hong-Han Jiao

Reggie Lee-Quan Chang

Anson Mount-Alex Rosen

Chris Sarandon-Mayor Tremello

Sándor Técsy-Emile Docheski

Joseph Sikora-Vassily Docheski

James Colby-Detective Mears

Matt O'Toole-Detective Lasky

Jack Gwaltney-Detective Reddick

Barry Bradford-Detective Benoit

Jay Giannone-Detective Kolfax

Igor Jijikine-Chemyakin

Directed by Boaz Yakin

Jason Statham prepares to blow your brains away in "Safe."

The larger-than-life personalities of actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis dominated the action films of the 1970’s, 1980’s, and early 1990’s but have now been replaced with mindless orgies of CG violence epitomized by director Michael Bay and his contemporaries. Their acting skills may have been lacking at times but those three have starred in numerous films that are now widely regarded as classics such as 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” 1976’s “Rocky,” and 1988’s “Die Hard.” Nowadays, we have Jason Statham, who has proved to be a capable actor in his own right but I still wonder what possessed him to work with infamous director Uwe Boll *insert obligatory snicker here* in 2006’s “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” which grossed a paltry $13 million worldwide against a $60 million production budget and has a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes. Boll has never let something like that discourage him and went straight to work on a sequel, titled “In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds” starring Dolph Lundgren and Natassia Malthe. Statham made his film debut in 1998 with Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and has starred in close to thirty films but he is best known for his action movies such as “The Transporter” and “Crank” series. Many of his action films end up blending together and fail to differentiate from one another, a fault that “Safe” continues to share. The action may be brutally satisfying and Jason Statham continues to be a compelling modern action star but that’s about all “Safe” offers with its overly-convoluted, clichéd story and stereotypical characters. 

Luke Wright (Jason Statham) is a former New York City police detective who found his career in shambles when he discovered that his fellow officers were corrupt and reported them to Internal Affairs. He became an underground cage fighter but runs afoul of the Russian mob when he refuses to throw a fight as expected. The Russians kill Luke’s pregnant wife but leave him alive, promising that he will be watched every second of every day and that anyone who gets close to him will be killed (sounds like it requires a lot of manpower). His life destroyed, Luke becomes a homeless drifter and contemplates suicide. Meanwhile, a twelve-year-old girl named Mei (Catherine Chan) is snatched off the street in China by men who work for Triads leader Han Jiao (James Hong). She is forced to help manage his illegal finances in New York City due to her being a gifted math prodigy with eidetic memory. Looked after by Han’s right-hand man Quan Chang (Reggie Lee), Mei is asked by Han to memorize a set of random numbers but before anything can be done with them, she is kidnapped by members of the Russian mob led by Emile Docheski (Sándor Técsy). Emile threatens Mei with violence and demands her to write down the numbers but she manages to slip away when police officers arrive on the scene due to complaints of a disturbance. Mei hides from the Russian mob in a subway station where she makes eye contact with Luke, who was planning on jumping onto the tracks to end his life. He sees the men following her and recognizes one of them as the murderer of his pregnant wife. Luke chases after them and brutally beats them to death in order to protect Mei. The two form an unlikely duo as the Russian mob, the Triads, and the corrupt New York City police force led by Captain Wolf (Robert John Burke) all converge on him with guns blazing in an attempt to steal the numbers, which happens to be a combination to a very important safe containing sensitive information. 

“Safe” is something of a throwback to the old-school action films of the 1970’s and contains shades of Charles Bronson mixed with a dash of Luc Besson’s “Léon: The Professional,” who ironically served as producer for Statham’s “Transporter” series. The title is also ironic as “Safe” ultimately plays it too safe, offering up a healthy dose of well-choreographed and brutally satisfying action scenes but little else of anything noteworthy. Boaz Yakin does double duty as writer and director but his story is an absolute mess that is too convoluted for its own good and makes little to no logical sense 90% of the time despite its straightforward premise, which is already on shaky ground since no explicit reason is given as to why Luke decides to protect Mei. Does she remind him of someone? They share one look and that’s apparently enough! Consider this: after efficiently dispatching a group of Russians on the ‘D’ train in full view of the passengers, Luke walks up to Mei to ask if she is all right but none of the passengers do anything to stop him even though he pulled a gun. Surely someone would be smart enough to pull the emergency break and alert the train conductor instead rushing out of the doors at the next stop screaming and yelling. Those signs aren’t simply for decoration, people! New York City (my hometown) is depicted in total anarchy as gang members engage in shootouts with the police with no thought to collateral damage. You would think that even the corrupt mayor (Chris Sarandon) would issue some sort of curfew or state of emergency for appearances’ sake rather than let his city turn into a chaotic warzone. Even Mei knows it’s bad for business…and she’s twelve! Unfortunately, most of the characters are not so much smart but simplistic stereotypes that border on being cartoonish. The film also suffers from some uneven pacing as the first thirty minutes rushes to setup all the players by continuously jumping between Luke and Mei. Still, some of the scenes in the beginning allow for Statham to show some measure of depth but “Safe” is ultimately all about the action. Fans of Statham and action junkies will walk away immensely satisfied as the last hour is one fight scene after another as Luke breaks every bone and shoots anyone that stands in his way. However, all of this is something we’ve seen countless times before in other action films and even Statham’s previous work. “Safe” is never a boring film but a good (or at least decent) writer could’ve went a long way in fixing the script’s numerous deficiencies. 

Jason Statham can act but for some indiscernible reason, he chooses to play the same gruff character over and over again in one disposable action movie after another. He seems to enjoy these types of roles and it earns him a consistent living but it would be nice to see him step outside his comfort zone once in awhile. Statham carries the entire film and is able to make every cringe-inducing one-liner work with his natural on-screen charisma. He just has a certain look about him that makes even his worst films somehow watchable. Catherine Chan shares a good rapport with Statham and it’s great to see a child character who understands the realities of her grim situation rather than coast by on precociousness. A number of recognizable faces pop up as supporting characters including James Hong, Reggie Lee, Robert John Burke, Chris Sarandon, and Anson Mount but none of them make much of an impression other than just popping up to get their daily beat-downs from Statham. It doesn’t help that their characters are nothing but broad stereotypes lifted from every gang film ever made. 

Released on April 27, 2012, “Safe” has received mixed reviews with 50% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found it ‘hard-hitting and violently inventive, [but] ultimately proves too formulaic to set itself apart from the action thriller pack—including some of [Statham’s] better films.’ Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t be any worse as the film was released one week before the highly anticipated “The Avengers” and grossed a disappointing $7.9 million during opening weekend, coming in sixth place. It looks like it’ll struggle to make back its modest $27 million production budget given the avalanche of summer films to come. Audience attendance was sparse but that was to be expected given that it was a Monday, although I could do without the snoring patron sitting in front of me. I continue to find it puzzling that people would pay $6 to $13 and sleep in the movie theater when they can do that at home…but I digress. “Safe” is like any other Jason Statham film, balls-to-the-wall action but little in the way of story and character. While certainly never boring, Statham can do better than this and it’s a shame to see his talents continuously wasted on such disposable fare. Action junkies will love “Safe” but it’s best to leave this one as a rental for everyone else.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Mayor Tremello: You've got some balls, Luke.

Luke Wright: Yeah, it’s amazing I can even walk.

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Sound of My Voice Review

Rated R (Language including some Sexual References, and Brief Drug Use)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 25 Minutes

Cast-

Brit Marling-Maggie

Christopher Denham-Peter Aitken

Nicole Vicius-Lorna Michaelson

Davenia McFadden-Carol Briggs

Richard Wharton-Klaus

Kandice Stroh-Joanne

Christy Meyers-Mel

Alvin Lam-Lam

Constance Wu-Christine

Matthew Carey-Lyle

Jacob Price-PJ

David Haley-O'Shea

Avery Kristen Pohl-Abigail Pritchett

Hannah Johnson-Narrator

Directed by Zal Batmanglij

Brit Marling as enigmatic cult leader Maggie in "Sound of My Voice."

Whenever I was off from elementary school during the summer, my grandmother would always send me to an independently-run learning center near where I lived to keep me from being unproductive at home. There was a kid there approximately my age whose name I cannot recall this instant but what made him unusual was his compulsive need to suck his thumb. I do not know why he did it because I never bothered to ask nor did I care at the time but the other children unsurprisingly shunned him. The people who ran the center tried to break his habit with little success but something curious happened one day. This kid brought in his collection of Spider-Man trading cards (the 1995 Fleer Ultra Premiere set if you were wondering) and everyone suddenly became his friend just for that day. Every person has a desire to belong since it is human nature after all. However, this can easily be exploited by someone who is both charismatic and manipulative. The most infamous example would be serial killer Charles Manson, who instructed the members of his doomsday cult to commit a series of bloody murders in late-1960’s California. People are never coerced to join cults and often seek them out on their own volition because they want to belong in a group in which they matter. After making waves at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, first-time director Zal Batmanglij and writer Brit Marling’s “Sound of My Voice” finally arrives in theaters in limited release. Despite its almost non-existent production budget and vague plot that leaves more questions than answers, “Sound of My Voice” remains a thought-provoking experience and stands as a shining example of what can be accomplished with only an idea and someone committed enough to follow it through. 

A young couple drives to a house at night in an anonymous Los Angeles neighborhood where they are greeted by a large man. The two are instructed to cleanse themselves in the shower and change into matching white tunics before being driven to another location while blind-folded. The couple meets a gray-haired man with glasses (Richard Wharton) and engages in a complex secret handshake with him before being allowed into the basement to join the rest of the new members waiting there. The gray-haired man asks everyone to kneel when a young woman carrying an oxygen tank enters the sparse room. The woman is named Maggie (Brit Marling) who reveals that she is a time traveler from the year 2054 where society has collapsed due to an unnamed civil war and the loss of technology. She has journeyed forty years back into the past in order to prepare a chosen few for the coming calamity and lead them to a supposed salvation. Peter Aitken (Christopher Denham) and Lorna Michaelson (Nicole Vicius), the couple in the beginning of the film, turn out to be aspiring documentary filmmakers who have infiltrated Maggie’s burgeoning cult in order to expose her as a fraud. However, they soon find their relationship strained to the breaking point as Maggie and her cult forces them to confront harsh truths about themselves and the world they currently live in. 

“Sound of My Voice” does not invite the most positive initial reception given its grimy, heavily aliased scenes and sparse locations but its non-existent production budget proves to be an advantage because it gives the film a grounded realism despite its ridiculous premise. The film does not go out of its way to develop the characters besides a short narration revealing that Peter is a substitute teacher at an all-girls school and that he lost his mother to cancer when he was twelve because she belonged to a cult that didn’t believe in modern medicine while Lorna is a reformed Hollywood party girl. Both are motivated to make a documentary on Maggie’s cult because they want to do something meaningful with their lives. Divided into ten chapters, “Sound of My Voice” has limited mass appeal because it is a film that provides more questions than answers. Is Maggie really a time traveler from the future or is she just a clever con artist who is using ‘her traditionally feminine gift of emotional insight to bring her followers to their knees’ (Mary Pols, Time Magazine)? There’s this amazing scene where all the members of her cult are sitting in a circle with an apple in their hand, a not-so-subtle symbol of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. Each takes a bite out of the apple but Maggie explains that they are weak for eating the fruit because it represents how they are being deceived with illusions of luxury and ‘intellectual bullsh*t’ by modern society. Things take a grotesque turn when one of the members vomits up the apple, prompting everyone to do the same except Peter. Maggie confronts him about his doubts in this intense exchange that brings him to tears (Lorna later calls it an ‘emotional orgasm’ in a tone that drips with admiration and jealousy), insisting that Peter is unable to fully give himself to her due to his personal demons of maternal abandonment and sexual abuse. Whether this is true or not is never explicitly revealed but it speaks of the power of indoctrination to the point where you may start believing it yourself. The film also emphasizes Maggie’s attractiveness, with Lorna accusing Peter of succumbing to her beauty in a heated exchange where he seriously contemplates kidnapping a little girl (Avery Kristen Pohl) at his school in order to prove his loyalty. This leads to a rather abrupt ending where nothing is ultimately resolved and the audience is left with questions about the connection the little girl has to Maggie and the motivations of a heavyset government official (Davenia McFadden) seeking to apprehend the cult leader. The relationship between Peter and Lorna is also left up in the air but Batmanglij leaves a number of hints to allow us to draw our own conclusions. “Sound of My Voice” is ultimately a question of faith, from both the characters and the audience, and how far you are willing to go in order to achieve a place where you belong. 

One of the reasons the film is so riveting to watch is Brit Marling, who also serves as co-writer and starred in last summer’s equally intriguing “Another Earth.” Clad in a white robe, Marling’s hypnotic Maggie is both angelic and commanding, the kind of cult leader that exudes a soothing motherly quality but also a hidden manipulative dark side. Marling has already become one of my favorite actresses despite having only two films under her belt and I admire her for taking the chance of writing her own roles even if it means earning less and staying on the fringes of mainstream Hollywood. Christopher Denham and Nicole Vicius may be unknown to general audiences but each excel in their respective roles, with Denham’s Peter struggling with his beliefs under his controlled demeanor while Vicius’s Lorna remains skeptical of Maggie, but whether it stems from jealousy or not is the real question. Their relationship, particularly in how Denham and Vicius interact with each other, is believable and adds to the sense of realism in the film. 

Premiering at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival back in January, “Sound of My Voice” is finally in limited release since April 27, 2012 and has received largely positive reviews with 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. It is currently playing at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema in New York City. Many critics have praised Marling’s performance and the film’s themes but some found it frustratingly vague, a sentiment that was shared by the audience that I saw it with. Many even started to laugh as the film progressed and I honestly wanted to tell them all to shut up…but I digress. Despite its limited mass appeal, I still highly recommend the film but it is of utmost importance that you keep an open mind as it demands you to form your own interpretations of what is happening. Brit Marling is now two-for-two and I cannot wait to see “The East” later this year which is also directed by Batmanglij. You won’t find answers in “Sound of My Voice” but what you will find is an intense and riveting drama. Make sure to see this film first before the avalanche of big-budget summer blockbusters arrives to smother us all.

Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5

“To see her is to believe her.”

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The Lucky One Review

Rated PG-13 (Some Sexuality and Violence)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 41 Minutes

Cast-

Zac Efron-First Sergeant Logan Thibault

Taylor Schilling-Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Clayton

Blythe Danner-Ellie\Nana

Jay R. Ferguson-Keith Clayton

Riley Thomas Stewart-Ben Clayton

Adam LeFevre-Judge Clayton

Robert Hayes-Victor Miles

Directed by Scott Hicks

Every film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel must have a scene like this.

Let me just preface this review by saying that I am a manly man because I am about to drop a bombshell on you: I just saw a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. Hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later given my line of work and I am not ashamed! I walked into that screening with my head held high! Nicholas Sparks has made a name for himself writing romantic fiction ever since his first published novel “The Notebook” reached the New York Times best-seller list back in 1996 and now has an additional sixteen novels to his name, seven of which have already been adapted into film with many more to come. During an interview with USA Today two years ago where he was promoting “The Last Song” starring Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, Sparks remarked that he writes ‘in a genre that was not defined by me. The examples were not set out by me. They were set out 2000 years ago by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. They were called the Greek tragedies. A thriller is supposed to thrill. A horror novel is supposed to scare you. A mystery is supposed to keep you turning the pages, guessing whodunit?’ He continues by saying that ‘a romance novel is supposed to make you escape into a fantasy of romance. What is the purpose of what I do? These are love stories. They went from [Greek tragedies], to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, then Jane Austen did it, put a new human twist on it. Hemingway did it with A Farewell to Arms.’ Picking up Hemingway’s novel, he proudly concludes by comparing his work to the acclaimed 20th century writer and calls Cormac McCarthy’s novels ‘horrible.’ This prompted a rather hilarious response from film critic Roger Ebert, where he wrote that he ‘[resented] the sacrilege Nicholas Sparks commits by even mentioning himself in the same sentence as Cormac McCarthy.’ I have no doubt that Sparks is a competent writer but he needs to get his head checked…seriously. Of course, I doubt he even cares given all the money he makes and it appears that Sparks is about to get richer thanks to the upcoming release of “The Lucky One,” based upon the novel of the same name published in 2008. While it is not as terrible as I had initially feared, the overly sappy and melodramatic tone, combined with its formulaic and clichéd script make this film a mediocre and ultimately forgettable experience. 

During his third tour of duty in Iraq, United States marine Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt but is then caught off-guard by an explosive ambush. He alone survives and the picture subsequently becomes his good luck charm. Logan returns home to Colorado eight months later but is unable to readjust to civilian life due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Taking his German Shepherd Zeus with him, he decides to search for the woman in the picture. His journey takes him to a small town in Louisiana where the woman, Elizabeth ‘Beth’ Clayton (Taylor Schilling), runs a dog kennel with her grandmother (Blythe Danner). Unable to explain why he is looking for her, Logan ends up applying for a job to help around the kennel. Beth is initially wary of him but the two eventually fall in love after she sees how good he is with her seven-year-old son Ben (Riley Thomas Stewart). However, Beth’s ex-husband, a deputy sheriff named Keith (Jay R. Ferguson), views Logan with suspicion and puts their relationship to the test when he tries to drive a wedge between him and Beth. 

Before I begin, I just want to point you toward a funny but true pictogram on Cracked.com titled How to Write a Nicholas Sparks Movie. “The Lucky One” follows the formula presented on that website to the letter. Even if you have never read a Nicholas Sparks novel or seen one of the film adaptations based on his work, it’s hard not to feel a strong sense of déjà vu because this is a story that has been told countless times already to the point that there is no drama left in seeing the events unfold before your eyes. This is not the fault of director Scott Hicks as he is just delivering what fans of Nicholas Sparks want—romantic cheese. As such, many of the scenes in the film are accompanied by perpetual sunsets and a mellow soundtrack while Efron’s Logan and Schilling’s Beth spend the film swooning all over each other. To no one’s surprise, a love scene is included where our lovers roll around and get all wet from a still-on showerhead while slowly thrusting into each other. Seriously, you cannot make this stuff up, unless your name is Nicholas Sparks! There are also moments of unintentional hilarity such as when Beth is unable to concentrate on washing the dishes because she’s busy mentally undressing Logan as he is unloads bags of dog food outside her window. This ends up making “The Lucky One” looking like a terrible sex fantasy for women. The central conflict between Logan and Keith is also contrived because the latter character is depicted as an overly cartoonish villain while the internal debate of whether Logan should tell Beth his secret is virtually ignored until the end. Themes of destiny and fate play a part in the story as well but Will Fetters’ script offers no meaningful insight due to the superficial manner in which they are explored. 

Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling may have been cast based on their looks but the acting remains competent with the two able to convincingly sell the romance despite the Hallmark-quality sentimentalism. Efron’s brooding and glazed expression is supposed to betray his sensitive side but his character ends up being rather dull because the writer has failed to give him any real flaws whatsoever. He is the perfect gentleman who is both a passionate lover and handy around the house! Still, I admire that Efron is trying to be taken seriously as an actor but he won’t be winning any awards starring in films like this. Schilling starred in last year’s critically reviled “Atlas Shrugged Part I” based upon the first third of Ayn Rand’s novel of the same name and while her performance can be somewhat uneven, she shares enough chemistry with Efron to make up for any shortcomings. Blythe Danner is the stereotypical grandmother who sees through Beth’s excuses and offers advice while Jay R. Ferguson ends up being little more than a caricature villain of a husband unable to take a hint and move on. 

“The Lucky One” will be released into theaters on April 20, 2012 and currently has a 40% on Rotten Tomatoes. Films based upon the novels of Nicholas Sparks have all received mixed to negative reviews and I expect this one to be no different from the others. I managed to see this film early at a free advanced screening and the audience was predominantly female unsurprisingly. They seemed to enjoy the film’s inherent cheesiness but I am pretty sure I heard a couple of sniffles at the end. Box office wise, I’m predicting an opening weekend debut of $15 to $17 million, which is average for a Nicholas Sparks adaptation. I must admit that if the tickets weren’t free in the first place, I would not have seen or reviewed this film. “The Lucky One” is far from terrible and offers up some unintentional comedy but there is little that audiences haven’t seen before. This makes for a perfectly adequate date movie if your lady has a craving for something romantic for the night but be prepared for a number of eye-rolling moments. You could certainly do a lot worse though.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

“You should be kissed every day, every hour, every minute.” (No man says stuff like that!)

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American Reunion Review

Rated R (Crude and Sexual Content Throughout, Nudity, Language, Brief Drug Use and Teen Drinking)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 53 Minutes

Cast-

Jason Biggs-James ‘Jim’ Levenstein

Alyson Hannigan-Michelle Flaherty-Levenstein

Chris Klein-Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher

Thomas Ian Nicholas-Kevin Myers

Eddie Kaye Thomas-Paul Finch

Seann William Scott-Steve Stifler

Mena Suvari-Heather

Ali Cobrin-Kara

Dania Ramirez-Selena

Tara Reid-Victoria 'Vicky' Lathum

Katrina Bowden-Mia

Jay Harrington-Dr. Ron

Shannon Elizabeth-Nadia

Natasha Lyonne-Jessica

Chris Owen-Chuck Sherman

Eugene Levy-Noah Levenstein

Jennifer Coolidge-Jeannine Stifler

Vik Sahay-Prateek Duraiswamy

John Cho-John

Directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg

Hey, its not like their careers were going anywhere.

Former Major League Baseball relief pitcher Larry Andersen once remarked that ‘you're only young once, but you can be immature forever,’ which is an apt way of describing the “American Pie” franchise. The first “American Pie” film was something of a revelation for moviegoers when it was released during the summer of 1999 as not only did it push the limits of the R-rating (it was initially rated NC-17 four times) but it also revitalized the raunchy teen sex comedy for the new millennium. While critical reception was only mildly positive (60% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences enthusiastically embraced the film with some even going so far as to call it an instant classic (that is going too far). “American Pie” earned twenty times its production budget with $235 million at the worldwide box office and led to the release of two inferior sequels—“American Pie 2” in 2001 and “American Wedding” in 2003. However, Universal was unable to let go of such a lucrative franchise and released four additional direct-to-video spin-offs between 2005 and 2009. Word of a fourth “American Pie” began to trickle out in October 2008 with the film entering pre-production in April 2010 when Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg (the creators of the “Harold & Kumar” series) signed on to both write and direct with the intention of reuniting the entire principal cast. “American Reunion” finally arrives into theaters nine years since the release of the previous film and is actually the best installment of the franchise, although that is faint praise considering that the series never rose above mediocrity. Recycled comedy and plot aside, what makes this entry passably entertaining is that the characters are finally treated like actual people and the film manages to at least partially recapture the spark that made the series so popular in the first place. 

Thirteen years after graduating high school, married couple James ‘Jim’ Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Michelle Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan) now have a two-year old son named Evan. Unfortunately, the two have not been intimate since his birth and are slowly drifting apart. Chris 'Oz' Ostreicher (Chris Klein) is now an NFL sportscaster living in Los Angeles with his pretty but vain girlfriend Mia (Katrina Bowden). Kevin Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is happily married and works from home as an architect while Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) has apparently disappeared with his whereabouts unknown. Finally, former party animal Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) now works as a temp at a famous investment firm but is often put down by his boss Prateek Duraiswamy (Vik Sahay). Kevin invites Jim and Oz (but not Stifler) to East Great Falls to attend their thirteenth high school reunion in order to catch up. Finch arrives as well and reveals that he had been spending the past ten years traveling all over the world. At the bar, they meet a former classmate named Selena (Dania Ramirez), an ugly duckling who has now grown into a beautiful woman. Despite being uninvited, the group reluctantly allows Stifler to join them for drinks when he shows up. The gang spends their time reminiscing about their crazy antics in high school and tries to move on while Jim finds himself tempted by his former neighbor Kara (Ali Cobrin), whom he used to babysit and now wants to lose her virginity to him on her eighteenth birthday. 

Like its predecessors, “American Reunion” features a scatterbrained plot and largely coasts by on fan nostalgia alone. Despite being a mediocre effort, the original film still succeeded in making you sympathize with the characters as they struggled to make the pivotal transition from teenager to adulthood but the sequels unfortunately remained trapped in the past as it desperately tried to make lightning strike twice. The series is clearly long past its prime but this fourth installment does manage to partially recapture the spirit of the first film, only this time the characters are looking to finally leave their old selves behind. It does not entirely succeed and much of the blame can be pointed to Hurwitz and Schlossberg recycling much of the comedy from the previous films but with some subtle variations (as if we wouldn’t notice). The cold open features Jim in a compromising position once again only this time his son Evan walks in on him instead of his father. Continuing his obsession with feces-related pranks, Stifler lets one rip in a beer cooler as payback toward a group of obnoxious high school kids who sprayed him and his friends with their jet skies. The main set-piece is when Jim is driving a drunken Kara home and enlists his friends to distract her parents while he sneaks her back in the house. The only problem is that Kara ripped half her clothes off in an attempt to seduce Jim and lose her virginity. I admit that this was actually pretty funny and adding to its outrageousness is when Kara’s mother recognizes Oz from a “Dancing with the Stars”-knock off and begins to suggestively dance around him to the shock of her husband. 

However, the best scenes in the film are the dramatic ones and the relationship between Jim and his father has always been one of the few bright spots in the franchise, their banter always touching and hilarious at the same time. Jim’s father once again offers some sagely wisdom to his son on how to keep a marriage from getting stale (ironic given how little has changed in each film) and there’s a sincere honesty behind his words that I appreciated. The series could’ve greatly benefitted from more of these moments instead of being a series of juvenile comedy vignettes. A common complaint that I had of the previous films was that its subplots would often leave the main story feeling like an afterthought and I am glad to report that this issue has been finally resolved but this leaves some of its ancillary characters such as Kevin Myers and Paul Finch with little to do other than providing a familiar face. Fans of the series will enjoy “American Reunion” as this film literally does reunite every character, with the minor ones even making a welcome cameo but even though it’s mildly funnier and has more heart compared to the previous entries, it’s still a case of too little too late as the writers fail to really bring anything new. It may be the best installment but compared to the R-rated comedies of today, it pales in comparison. 

The cast slip easily back in their roles like a pair of old gloves with Jason Biggs still charming as the lovable dork who always gets caught with his pants down (literally!) but manages to find a way to bounce back from total disaster every time. Chris Klein’s acting hasn’t fared much better in the intervening thirteen years while Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas are fine despite the lacking subplots they are forced to work with. Seann William Scott’s Steve Stifler proved to be the series’ breakout character given that the actor has had the most successful career but Stifler always came across as little more than an annoying cartoon written by a horny fifteen-year-old boy. Thankfully, the directors saw fit to dial down his presence to a more manageable level. Alyson Hannigan and Mena Suvari’s characters are given a bit more depth but Dania Ramirez’s Selena proves to be largely superfluous to the proceedings. As for Tara Reid, let her be a reminder to all women on the dangers of plastic surgery. Eugene Levy continues to excel as Jim’s father and the film is at its best whenever he is on-screen. He also shares a hilarious mid-end credits scene with Jennifer Coolidge. Katrina Bowden provides the requisite eye-candy while Ali Cobrin…let’s just say she definitely takes her vitamins. Shannon Elizabeth, Natasha Lyonne, and Chris Owen appear in cameo roles. 

Released on April 6, 2012, “American Reunion” has received negative reviews with 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that ‘it’ll provide sweetly nostalgic comfort food for fans of the franchise, but [the film] fails to do anything truly new or interesting—or even very funny—with the characters.’ It had a somewhat underwhelming debut during its opening weekend with $21.5 million due to the large amount of time that has passed and the bad taste left by the direct-to-video spin-offs. “The Hunger Games” dominating the box office certainly didn’t help matters. Like I said before, only fans will get any enjoyment out of this film. Still, Universal has little to worry about given its $50 production budget as the film has already earned $80 million worldwide. It’s a far cry from the trilogy but not a total disaster. While my opinion of the previous “American Pie” films are unchanged, “American Reunion” remains a breezy enough romp that ultimately has little going for it besides the nostalgia factor.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5

Kevin Myers: Were we just as obnoxious as these kids back in the day?

Paul Finch: Not us, our generation, we were more mature.

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