A recent surplus of teen comedies, a wildly successful genre that appeals to varying audiences, have infiltrated the box office. However, in an attempt to be daring and original, most are falling into a formulaic pattern that is instantaneously predictable from start to finish.
From the moment "Sex Drive" starts, the audience knows how it is going to end. Despite this fact, it is an enjoyable and surprisingly fresh ride along the way.
The film stars relatively fresh faces Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke and Amanda Crew as best friends Ian, Lance and Felicia. In a more modern technological twist on the classic teen set-up, Ian, a virgin, is carrying on a flirtation with a girl several hours away over a Facebook-type Web site in which he has enhanced and embellished his own looks.
After failed attempts at displaying his true feelings for his best friend, Felicia, Ian decides to take up his internet lover's offer: "If you drive all the way here for me, I'll go all the way for you." His best friend, Lance, is hell-bent on getting Ian to lose his virginity, so he joins him on the road trip. Felicia soon follows in an unplanned and unexpected turn of events. In the vein of the traditional cross-country adventure, they encounter crazy characters along the way, trying to outrun their past while it catches up with them.
Zuckerman's turn as Ian is genuine and heartfelt. Though he is technically the "pansy" of the film, the audience easily empathizes with Ian in his attempts to find love and his paranoia of being rejected. The character of Felicia is likeable, but her storyline is far too predictable. Despite her given lines, Crew puts on a fine performance and plays a good "straight man" to the antics of her fellow friends.
In an original spin on an old story, the most popular character in the film is that of atypical-looking Lance. Though Duke is not one's conventional idea of being handsome - he is portly with glasses - Lance's luck with ladies and smooth talk is completely believable. Duke's charisma leaps off the screen, making his exploits seem plausible and his friendship with Ian seem genuine.
Though the three main stars of "Sex Drive" have most of the screen time, it is the supporting characters that drive the whole film. James Marsden, in a switch from his usual romantic comedy role, plays Ian's foul-mouthed, motorcycle-riding older brother. It's questionable whether or not it is the written material or simply Marsden's outrageous out-of-character performance that's more hilarious.
In a fantastic guest-starring role, Seth Green steals every scene he is in. As a wise-cracking sarcastic Amish man, Green's acerbic wit and sharp-tongued lines provide the majority of the laughs. Scenes involving the Amish underground are the funniest in the film, both for their sheer ridiculousness and outrageous performances.
Though "Sex Drive" is likely nothing you haven't seen before in terms of plot, the characters are truly what make the movie. Belly laughs abound if one just simply throws their gross-out factor out the window. And you'll never look at the Amish the same way again.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
