Review: Young People Fucking

For a little Canadian indie flick, "Young People Fucking" actually creating something of a stir for a brief time earlier this year. ThinkFilm, the distributor, couldn't get it out in theaters because of the title (which admittedly, is shameless if pretty damn funny as well), and Roger Ebert, scourge of the oppression of any movie, published a review in his blog and took the time to get it up on IMDB as well. The question is, though, is there anything more here than just shock value? I'd say so.

The film is essentially a meditation on the universally known six stages of sex (prelude, foreplay, sex, interlude, orgasm, afterglow) through the perspectives of several different relationships, existing as types of relationships. There are the exes, Mia (Sonja Bennett) and Eric (Josh Cooke) who have dinner after some time apart and end up sleeping together; the best friends Matt (Aaron Abrams) and Kris (Carly Pope, of the defunct WB show "Popular"), who try and have sex just to spare each other the difficulty of finding somebody else; the couple Andrew (Josh Dean) and Abby (Krisin Booth) who try and spice up their sex lives while celebrating Andrew's birthday; the first date between Jamie (Diora Baird) and Ken (Callum Blue) and the pair of roommates, Gord (Ennis Esmer) and Dave (Peter Oldring), who end up involved with Gord's girlfriend Inez (Natalie Lisinska) in a threesome.

The film cuts back between one night in the lives of these five couples, and because this is a no-budget indie, it lives and dies by the performances. For the most part, the film lives on them, because all the actors involved delve fearlessly into sometimes humiliating, often hilarious situations that are all tangible enough to work. There are no exaggerated "American Pie" sexual pratfalls here, and what makes the film so cringingly funny is the fact that most of what happens onscreen is discussed, and often even suggested, in your average issue of "Cosmopolitan" or "Mens' Health."

As far as the stories go, the one between the best friends works the best, mostly because it's the sweetest out of them. Matt and Kris attempt to get drunk and fumble around, but trying to treat each other like any other one-night stand fails miserably, because they actually care about each other, and begin to realize this during. The funniest story, if the most out-there, is of the married couple. After discussing how they both feel boring and unsatisfied, Abby pulls out a strap-on, and the end result (no pun intended) is uncomfortably funny, just because it delivers what would probably be the most honest result of such an experiment.

The only time the film falls flat is in the plotline with the threesome. Gord is borderline creepy in wanting to watch his roommate have sex with his girlfriend, and becomes fully creepy when he begins making demands of them both. The scene is played for laughs, but Gord isn't likable enough for it to work. You can only feel sympathy for Dave, who looks horrifically uncomfortable the entire time. The only thing that redeems this plotline is Inez's very last line; it's fair, and honest, and will make any guy watching this bite his tongue just a bit.

For a no-budget indie comedy, the film works on all fronts. It's nothing revolutionary, and about twenty minutes in you can see why it couldn't find theatrical distribution (I'm no prude, but the film is borderline pornographic.) If I could make a recommendation, rent the film "Shortbus." Released in 2005, it was also met with controversy for its graphic sexual content (though in that film, the issue was with all the sex in the film being real) and handles similar themes of sexual need in a much gutsier, funnier and better written manner.