I didn't know anything about this film in advance and when I saw the title
I was filled with dread. I thought it was going to be another one of those
pretentious and oh-so-serious films where the director haughtily flaunts his disdain
for conventional mores, ala 9 Songs or Lie With Me. After all, the title just
cries out, "Look at me. I'm just so self-consciously audacious that you can
tell how superior I feel to you church-goin' rubes."
Thank God I was wrong because I hate that kind of movie. The people who
make those films tend to take all the fun out of sex and can't seem to
distinguish between erotica and explicitness.
This Canadian film is actually a pleasant, down-to-earth and conventional repertory comedy
about modern relationships .... well ... modern straight, white, polite,
middle-class relationships, to be more accurate. The title
serves several purposes. First, it describes what the film is
about. Second, it is part of the film's humor. Third, it is designed to
attract attention and publicity to a small, non-marquee film which might otherwise get lost in
the shuffle.
The film basically demonstrates that the process of love-making follows a
certain path and moves in defined steps, irrespective of how well the partners
know one another. To make the point, it takes five couples (well, one is a
threesome, to be technical) at totally different stages in their relationships
and relates how one act of intercourse develops for each couple. The film is
divided into six chapters which represent the stages of an evening's
seduction, and the narrative cuts back and forth among the stories. One of the
couples is on a first date; one is comfortably married; one consists of exes;
one is a pair of long-time friends trying to have their one and only lifetime
sportfuck; the last is the threesome, in which a man persuades his girlfriend
and male roommate to have sex with one another while he watches.
Young People Fucking works. I don't normally like ensemble relationship
comedies any better than the self-consciously arty pseudo-erotica I was
dreading, simply because there are so many pitfalls they can fall into. This
film avoids all the problems by negotiating the balance between zany and warm;
as well as that between contrived and realistic. The characters are
recognizable, complex and as credible as can be expected from a comedy which
has to deliver a certain quota of laughs. The script takes enough time
to develop each of the five mini-plays so that the emotional resonance of the
scenes can shine through the comic set-ups. You will not like every single
character, but even the coldest ones (the first date couple) have
vulnerabilities and insecurities which make them sympathetic to some degree,
and the eleven actors do quite a good job at making the audience members feel
as if they were eavesdropping on real situations. Best of all, the film
approaches the subject matter with honesty to match its good humor, and you
may even be moved in a couple of spots.
Plus there's plenty of topless nudity from some beautiful women with their
own factory-original breasts. (And a couple of firm male butts for those
inclined to enjoy that component of the action.)
This film is a very pleasant and sexy way to pass 80-some minutes.
