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Director: Paul Weitz Screenplay: Adam Herz Starring: Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Natasha Lyonne, Tara Reid, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Coolidge, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Eugene Levy Running Time: 110 minutes Studio: Universal MPAA Rating: R |
Chalk up another flick on the "suburban high school kids and sex" chart. At least this one has a realistic, no-nonsense attitude about the number one subject on teens' minds: doin' the nasty. Kudos to a frank, honest and sometimes outrageous script by first-timer Adam Herz and matter-of-fact direction by Paul Weitz. Four friends -- Jim (Jason Biggs), Oz (Chris Klein), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas), and Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) -- make a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. They make the bet, even though only one of them (Kevin) has a girlfriend, and she (Vicky, played by Tara Reid) doesn't want to go all the way. "This isn't NASA launching the space shuttle," her experienced friend, Jessica (Natasha Lyonne), tells her. "It's just sex."
Indeed, it is just sex that occupies these teenagers' minds, even the band nerds, as shown in one funny scene. Jim seems especially obsessed with it, trying new ways to.... relieve the tension, so to speak. The movie opens Jim, a scrambled porn channel, a tube sock, and his parents. When a friend tells him later that third base feels like warm apple pie, you know what he's going to do with the apple pie his mom leaves for him in the kitchen. (Yeah, I know, you saw the trailer, too.) He even gets involved in an aborted attempt to have sex with Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), a hot foreign exchange student.
Broadcast via the Internet.
One refreshing aspect of the script is Jim's father's reaction to his son's fixation. Rather than ignore it, punish him for it, or even get him a hooker to relieve it, Jim's dad (Eugene Levy) tries to talk to him about it. He even buys porn magazines for Jim in an attempt to steer him away from the pastry.
The other guys work their schemes with an eye towards prom night. Oz, a lacrosse jock, joins jazz choir to land pretty soprano Heather (Mena Suvari). Finch, the smart one, pays Jessica $200 to spread favorable, flattering rumors about him. And Kevin tried to become sensitive to Vicky's needs, which seems merely to mean finding her G spot.
