Teen sex comedies seem to come in waves. From “Animal House” to “American Pie”, teenagers latch on to a movie that pushes the boundaries of crudeness. “Sex Drive” tries it’s hardest to be the sex comedy of our generation, but strange casting and poor directing can’t keep it from surpassing mediocre.
“Sex Drive” follows the awkward exploits of Ian (Josh Zuckerman) and his two best friends Felicia (Amanda Crew) and Lance (Clark Duke). Ian’s a high school virgin who has decided he wants to have sex with a girl he met on the Internet. The trio set out on a “cross country” (nine hour) roadtrip that has them fighting off hobos, running from rednecks, and getting boners on stage at an abstinence seminar. Love triangles ensue: Ian hearts Felicia while Felicia likes Lance while Lance likes anything with breasts.
The surprising thing about the mediocre “Sex Drive” is that the script is actually quite good. They aren’t breaking new grounds by any means: Ian=Jason Biggs and Ian’s big brother Rex (James Marsden)=Stiffler. The jokes were actually written really well. My two problems were the casting and the directing. Clarke Duke as Lance felt an odd choice for me. He was able to pull off the suaveness and dickness that the character required but he didn’t look like he could be the lady killer the movie tried to make you believe he was. The directing was also mediocre. Stagnant shots and slightly awkward blocking made it look like amatuer hour.
While I loved the jokes and some of the characters in Sex Drive, this movie will not live in the same vein as Weird Science or the American Pie franchise. Cliche moments keep it from classicness
