In 1999, I went to the theatre to see a movie called American Pie. It was a film that garnered a lot of buzz for being a new, raunchy teen comedy that re-energized that genre. Though the movie was rated 18A, a lot of teens under the age of 18 were able to buy tickets and get into the theatre. I know this for a fact because at my showing, several ushers came in and said they were going to check IDs. I was with some friends and we were all over the age of 18 so it was no big deal to us. The movie was rated 18A though, which meant you could be under 18 and still see the movie if someone old enough brought you in. Some resourceful kids in front of us turned around and asked us if we could be their movie “chaperones”. We reluctantly said yes but only if they would explain what high school kids thought was cool at the time. The answer was not us. Anyways, it didn’t matter in the end because the ushers checked less than half a dozen IDs in an auditorium full of underage moviegoers.
American Pie went on to make a lot of money and two theatrical sequels. I thought American Pie 2 was great but I wasn’t a big fan of American Wedding, the third movie. I didn’t even bother with the four direct to home video “spin-off” films which didn’t involve many of the original cast.
More than a decade later, the original cast has re-assembled for a new movie called American Reunion. I liked what I’ve seen from the trailers, one of which you can see above. It’s great that they brought back all the original cast members, even many of the actors who just had small parts in the first film. It’s interesting to see where all the actors have wound up since they made the first movie. One could argue Alyson Hannigan is currently the most visible performer out of the bunch with her regular work on How I Met Your Mother. Some of the actors don’t appear in mainstream Hollywood films anymore. It’s interesting to note that actor John Cho probably has risen farthest since his very small role in American Pie. His character had about two minutes of screen time where he originated the pop culture term “MILF“. If you don’t know what that stands for, go ask your Mom. In the last ten years, he’s gone on to star in the Harold and Kumar movies and he is the new Sulu in the Star Trek reboot. All that from being “MILF Guy #2”.