Showing at a local home cinema – Part 11

Sex Drive (2008). Low-brow adult comedies are a dime a dozen these days. I think they’ve been around for a while, but it was American Pie in 1999 a decade ago that really got movie-goers’ attention.

Just to get it out of the way first; Sex Drive is an adult comedy but comedy doesn’t seem to be its only theme. The comedy is matched with romantic drama elements. The story’s about three just-about-to-graduate high school students who go on a road trip after one of them meets a sex bomb on an Internet chat-line, and decides to drive across the state to meet her and do their thing.

It could had easily been a low-brow skin-flick with plenty of coarse language and a cess pool of vomit and piss. Thing is, all those elements are there: foul language, vomit and piss – but there’s a surprising sweetness in the story-telling. It’s a growing-up story, helped by three lead actors – Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke and Amanda Crew – who while aren’t megastars in the acting world are each nonetheless likable in their roles, and have equal involvement in the narrative. There won’t be any surprises to how the story turns towards the conclusion, but I found myself smiling nonetheless at its end.

Along the road trip, the three run into hitchhikers, donuts, rednecks, a rock band, cafe waitresses desperate for love, cornfields, and an Amish community that’s nothing like you’ve ever seen.

OK, the Amish community scenes are going to upset the Amish who actually get out of the norm and go see a movie, but those scenes are also crazily hilarious and constitute some of the best parts of the film. The only semi-famous actor in the cast is James Marsden – Cyclops in the X-Men trilogy and Prince Edwards in last year’s Enchanted – but he’s in a very different role this time: he channels Stifler in this movie LOL.:)

All that said, I don’t think this is a film for everyone: certainly not film goers who’d cringe at foul language and adult situations. There’s a lot of that in Sex Drive, the more interesting that this film is available on rental and retail in the normally prudish Singapore. But if one can get past those elements, there’s a great story here with likable characters and genuinely funny scenes.