American Reunion

UNIVERSAL PICTURES, HOPPER STONE
From left, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Chris Klein and Eddie Kaye Thomas are shown in a scene from "American Reunion."

The kids from "American Pie" are all grown up.

When we catch up with the gang at the start of "American Reunion,"#<\p>Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), married since 2003's "American Wedding," have a 2-year-old son and a dormant sex life.

Oz (Chris Klein) is a famous TV sportscaster with a supermodel girlfriend.

Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) is a happily married architect. And he has a beard.

Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) returns to East Great Falls with the tales of a world traveler.

And then there's Stifler (Seann William Scott).

Living with his mom (Jennifer Coolidge), working as a temp, he hasn't changed a bit. He's always looking to start the party, but when his old friends return for their high school reunion (held after 13 years, for reasons never explained), he finds they all have become adults, with real jobs and responsibilities. In fact, they purposely leave him out of their plans for the weekend, perhaps because they know he's played by a more talented comic actor who routinely steals scenes from them. Stifler, though, easily finds a way to crash those plans.

The whole cast of characters is back, including Heather (Mena Suvari), Oz's conservative, choir-girl girlfriend; Vicky (Tara Reid), Kevin's high-school flame; and, of course, Jim's dad (Eugene Levy), still dispensing inappropriate fatherly advice and, coping with the passing of his wife three years earlier, in need of a little guidance of his own.

Written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the team behind the "Harold & Kumar" movies, "American Reunion" is a sweet, honest look at that point most people reach, when they finally leave behind their reckless youth and become who they will be for the rest of their lives. Of course, it's an "American Pie" movie, so it comes with an abundance of sex-related humor and a bevy of crude jokes and sight gags for the sake of having crude jokes and sight gags.

Thankfully, there is much more to it than that, the crudity merely window dressing used to sell tickets to a movie that tells a real story about the strange journey into adulthood.

A tinge of sadness runs through all four films in the series, the result of the characters knowing their time together is running out and things never will be as wonderful as they are right now. No two people's paths are exactly the same, but that's how life is.

People mature, priorities change, responsibilities mount, and though the relationships may evolve, the bonds of friendship remain true.

Greg’s Grade: A-

(Rated R for crude and sexual content throughout, nudity, language, brief drug use and teen drinking. 113 minutes.)