SEX DRIVE (director/writer: Sean Anders; screenwriters: John Morris/based on the book “All the Way” by Andy Behrens; cinematographer: Tim Orr; editor: George Folsey Jr.; music: Stephen Trask; cast: Josh Zuckerman (Ian Lafferty (Josh Zuckerman), a sad-sack Chicago high school student who works at a mall doughnut shop), Amanda Crew (Felicia), Clark Duke (Lance), Seth Green (Ezekiel), James Marsden (Rex), Dave Sheridan (Bobby Jo), Katrina Bowden (Ms. Tasty), Allison Weissman (Becca), Kim Ostrenko (Ian’s Stepmom), Cole Petersen (Dylan), Alice Greczyn (Mary), Andrea Anders (Brandy); Runtime: 108; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Leslie Morgenstein/Bob Levy/Mr. Morris; Summit Entertainment and Alloy Entertainment; 2008)
“Not revolting enough to be a bad film, but not witty enough to be a good film.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Sean Anders (“Never Been Thawed”) directs and cowrites (with John Morris) this crass but good-natured teen sex film (just check out the title and you should know exactly what you’re in for) that’s based on the book “All the Way” by Andy Behrens. It’s another one of the those derivative vapid “Superbad” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” or “Porky” comedies about pining virgins about to be deflowered. Not revolting enough to be a bad film, but not witty enough to be a good film. Whatever, this B film is better than the usual teen genre one. With all its attempts at being funny, it comes up with a precious few chuckles and just one whopper: a police officer who tries to Tase our teen hero Ian Lafferty (Josh Zuckerman) during a parking-lot stolen car bust while he’s attired in a demeaning workplace sombrero-ed doughnut costume. Ian’s a nerdy Chicago suburban high school student who is working part-time at a mall doughnut shop, has an unsympathetic family, spends his leisure time pleasuring himself and has never been laid. One of the jokes being that Ian’s 14-year-old brother Dylan (Cole Petersen) gets more pussy than his older brother.
The 18-year-old Ian’s fearsome muscle man redneck bully older brother Rex (James Marsden), the owner of a 1969 red-orange Pontiac GTO, with “NOFATCHX” on the license plate, constantly berates his little brother by putting him down as a possibly gay dwork. The hapless but likable Ian’s best female friend is the attractive but snide Felicia (Amanda Crew), someone he would like to be intimate with but has instead a platonic relationship even though they seem meant for each other. The horny Ian is encouraged by his overly confident charmer geeky best male friend, Lance (Duke), an unlikely ladies’ man, to pursue an Internet chat come-on with the hot looking (according to the photo) Ms. Tasty (Katrina Bowden) in Knoxville, Tennessee. With Lance’s help they steal brother’s GTO and along with Felicia, who thinks they’re visiting Ian’s sick grandma for the weekend, they take the nine hour ride to keep a date with Tasty to get some promised nut for our boy. On the trip there they get into a number of misadventures that include kinky sex for Lance with a trailer living truck-stop waitress, a stopover on the fair grounds, chicken races on the highway, road kill, some jail time, contact with a friendly but sarcastic Amish car mechanic (Seth Green) who repairs the GTO, an evening experience of the Amish rumspringa (that was not only incredulous, but lame), and a more than what was bargained for experience with the not so tasty Tasty.
It’s all low brow physical comedy about teens with one thing on their mind and in how they deal with sexual humiliation. Its target audience should find plenty of familiar crude yuks in this road/buddy film to amuse themselves with, as this disposable teen pic tries to nail down this group it has an affinity for but is too limited to get much right that matters.
REVIEWED ON 10/19/2008 GRADE: C+
Dennis Schwartz: “Ozus’ World Movie Reviews”
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