It would be easy to dismiss Sex Drive as your typical teen sex comedy. It’s got gross-out gags, tons of sex jokes and enough nudity to score an R rating. But there’s one very important thing that the film has going for it, something that makes it worth watching regardless of how many of these American-Pie-type comedies you’ve sat through, and that’s Clark Duke of ClarkandMichael.com.
The story revolves around Ian (Josh Zuckerman) a teenage boy who goes on a road trip with his friends, Felicia (Amanda Crew) and Lance (Duke), to meet and have sex with a hot girl he’s been chatting with on the internet. Yes, it sounds like the plot of every other teen movie that’s ever been made, and in many ways, it is.
What makes the film at least worth adding to your Netflix queue is the special brand of funny that Duke brings to everything. His character is a smooth playboy who gets any girl and is always the life of the party. While Duke isn’t exactly Brad Pitt, you still believe him in this role because his sense of humor is so keen that it wouldn’t be hard for him to attract female attention. Like his character in the ClarkandMichael episodes, he has a certain swagger and overconfidence that makes him a comedy standout. He steals every scene with little distinct things, like calling everyone “sweetheart” or keeping the same mellow tone while throwing in brilliantly funny ad-libs and one-liners. His style is insanely effective and hilarious and he could easily become the Danny McBride of his generation.
Sex Drive also features a great performance from Seth Green as a sarcastic Amish guy who the teens encounter when their car breaks down. His jokes about the Amish lifestyle are witty and fresh and his character also serves to foreshadow a giant Rumspringa party scene with a surprise appearance from Fall Out Boy.
The theatrical version of the film is definitely worth checking out on DVD if only for the surprise that such a standard format for teen comedy can contain some really funny and original jokes. Unless you’re a die-hard fan, it’s safe to skip the unrated version because, as the amusing intro from writers Sean Anders and John Morris emphasizes, it’s just a longer version of the film with more nudity and fart sounds added in.
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