Sex Drive

Teen sex comedies have been a staple of the movies for quite some time, but the trilogy of American Pie movies kind of killed the whole concept. How is it possible to beat having sex with a pie and having an instrument up the butt? I know people will try and say Superbad was a teen sex comedy, but I don't think it fits this category. It wasn't focused on getting virgins laid like Losin it, Porky's or American Pie. We have not seen a successful one in far too long and when Sex Drive opened to better reviews than these types of movies usually get, I thought maybe I finally found a movie to carry the American Pie torch.

Ian(Josh Zuckerman) is a loser virgin who pretends to be a big buff football player on-line to talk to girls. One in particular, Ms_Tasty, has been smitten by the on-line Josh and tells him he should take the 6 hour drive and she will make it worth it. Ian isn't really buff and he doesn't play football and he doesn't drive a 1969 "Judge" either. He is a loser who works at a doughnut store and the car belongs to his alpha male, homophobic brother(James Marsden). Ian's two best friends are a girl, Felicia(Amanda Crews)and a male slut, Lance(the oddly cast Clark Duke). Lance lives by the mantra of "if you are a dick to a girl, she will love you." It works always, besides the fact that Lance isn't really what you would think of as a heart throb. Lance convinces Ian to steal the car and take the trip. Lance and Felicia(Who is crushing on Lance) tag along, but Felicia thinks they are going to visit Ian's grandmother. Along the way they have all kinds of adventures and shenanigans, which include a stop in an Amish village where Lance meets, Mary(Alice Greczyn) and falls in love. If you saw Mary, you would understand.

American Pie opened up with a scene where the lead character is caught masturbating by his parents; in Sex Drive, the main character experiences a wet dream, wakes up, throws his wet and sticky underwear towards the hamper misses, and his new step mom slips on it, falls and lands on it. In American Pie, the lead kid is trying to figure out how to use a condom and his dad sits on one; In Sex Drive, the lead character accidentally flings a condom into his new step-mom's hair. In American Pie, the lead character is embarrassed when he broadcasts something on web-cam that was not meant for everyone; in Sex Drive characters are embarrassed when pictures of them end up in random blogs and fetish sites. The similarities do not end there, but those are the two most prominent. If you are going to copy a movie, why not copy the single best movie in the sub-genre you are in. It makes sense. They don't necessarily one up the concept of having sex with a pie, but we are nearly introduced to something called "The Rolling brown out." Yeah, get the picture? Sex Drive is brutally nasty at times, but it is also brutally funny at times. It does lack the certain charm of American Pie, but it fills that void with random hot girls all over the place.

The bulk of the comedy comes from the heroes' stop in an Amish village. The Amish are fixing their car for the night and our heroes are introduced to what is known as rumspringa. Rumspringa is a short period of time where young Amish people get to act a total fool. Fall out Boy comes to play a concert and Amish people get drunk high and naked. Plus, Seth Green's turn as Ezekiel is comic gold. He is a master of sarcasm and it is impossible to tell if he is joking around or being serious. He delivers the best and biggest laughs. But laughs are also mined from Ian accidental pledging abstinence and getting a hard-on on stage as a girl warns of the perils of sex. Also two side characters, Andy and Randy mine laughs as two guys who hit on everything. James Marsden as the macho brother is hilarious in breaking his recent string of nice guy roles. Of course, the big reveal at the end of the movie of his character shocks no one.

As far as performances from the 3 leads, they are all fine. None of them really seem to have break out star quality the way everyone thought the cast of American Pie would have, but since they all fizzled maybe that is a good thing. Clark Duke is an odd choice for the Lothario because he is pasty, flabby and isn't particularly hot, but maybe that was the idea. Perhaps the whole stunt was that girl will fall for any guy who acts like a dick. It is not exactly new material for movies, but they make it work. As Ian, Zuckerman provides a pretty stable and reliable protagonist. he is more earnest than the usual straight man in these movies. Bad things happen to him, but not overly embarrassing things, once the first 15 minutes are over.

I could dedicate a whole paragraph to the amount of insanely hot girls show up in various moments throughout the movie, but instead I will just say that Alice Greczyn stands out. She is sexy, but there is a sort of innocence to her. I am not saying I believe her as an Amish girl, but I believe she could be the love of the life of a guy who has never believed in love. I would probably lead the world behind for her.

While it is not going to change the sub-genre of teenage sex comedy the way American Pie did, Sex Drive offers plenty of laughs and a few gross out moments that these movies have to have. Plus, it has one tremendous doughnut costume. I am not sure how much further teen sex comedies can push the boundaries, but I am curious to see where they lead. Now if only there was a character in these movies pointing out the absurdity of going to such lengths just to have sex.

Final Grade: C