Sex Drive: Unrated and Cream-Filled
Blu Ray Title: Sex Drive: Unrated and Cream-Filled
Disk Release Date: 24 February, 2009
Rated: Unrated and R Rated one one disk
Screen format: 1080P High Definition Widescreen 1.78:1 (1.85:1 Unrated)
Studio: Summit
First theatrical release: 17 October, 2008
Previous releases on disk: Day and Date with Anamorphic Widescreen DVD
Director: Sean Anders
Starring: Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew, Clark Duke, Seth Green and James Marsden
Sound Formats: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (LAS 2.0 available on R rated version)
Length: R Rated 109 Minutes, Unrated 129 Minutes
Subtitles:
Plot: 4.5/5
I admit it, I didn’t follow the director’s advice. When you fire up the Unrated version of this disk it recommends that if you haven't seen the R rated version you should stop and go watch that one instead and come back and watch the Unrated version second. As I was watching this with friends and the Director promised there would be much more (high quality!) nudity in the unrated version, we voted to watch that one instead, and we were VERY glad we did. It had us in stitches, often times because the cast mugs for the camera in a way no theatrical version could, plus there really is more nudity, tho not all of it as high quality as we were promised, so be warned on that! I still have not braved the R rated version.
Taking cues from every other teen sex comedy to date, Sex Drive combines the stories of ‘The Sure Thing’ and ‘Road Trip’ with a dash of ‘American Pie’ thrown in for good measure. Lovable loser Ian (Zuckerman) is a hit on the internet where he is masquerading as a buff football star, but a gutless virgin in real life, where he can never get up the courage to make his move. When his ‘net hottie promises him to go ‘all the way’ if he shows up at her door, he has to figure a way to get from Chicago to Knoxville in time to make his date. Enter friend Lance (Duke) who convinces Ian to steal his brother Rex’s (Marsden) sweet ride, a classic GTO named ‘The Judge’ for the trip, and add in his crush Felicia (Crew), whom he was supposed to hang out with for the weekend (platonically), for the ride and off we go on the titular Sex Drive. Along the way the trio will discover the magic of a romantically secluded tree, a pack of abstinent cheerleaders, a world class mechanic in the body of an Amish-man (Green), get tossed in prison, go to a Barn Dance featuring Fall Out Boy, and outrun a hick with vengeance on his mind all in the name of this primal quest.
It’s typical teen fodder but it has more laughs than most that I can remember. It resolves the story in ways that are pretty obvious, but there’s tons of nudity! And it’s Rude and Crude but it says it will be on the front cover, so what were we expecting? There’s also the tender ending where everyone takes a big step towards adulthood, but isn't that how all of these films end?
Sound Quality: 4/5
For an independently produced teen sex comedy Sex Drive has a pretty rocking soundtrack and transfer. Besides Fall Out Boy which adds a few tracks there’s an ACDC classic, an ironic use of ‘Can’t fight this feeling anymore’ by REO Speedwagon, a reprise of Kenny Loggins ‘Danger Zone’ from TopGun, and a collection of new release tracks by artists I’m not familiar with but all sounded great. Surround wise there is tons of action in the rears, especially during the automotive chase scenes and in the concert sequences. Those are also the sections where bass is most prevalent and I was mightily impressed with that performance as well. Dialogue of course is critical and the whole film was rock solid on that aspect, again keeping us in stitches.
Visual Quality: 4/5
Video quality was likewise impressive given the type of film and its independent origins. Colors were perfect in the many outdoor sequences, particularly in the ‘Tree’ scene which looked fantastic. Sharpness was consistently dead on and the outdoor vistas were eye poppingly deep in many scenes. Even in the indoor concert scenes grain was never an issue, and I never caught sight of aggressive edge enhancement, print damage or other bothersome effects.
Extra Features: 2/5
The one area where I was let down is in the extras. While I appreciate having both cuts on one disk, that wasn’t really enough for me, and the included extras were more than a bit shallow. First, as noted, the introduction by the director was obviously staged to look worse than it was and this sense of ironic misrepresentation continued in the real extras.
Making a Masterpiece does the double irony thing by pretending to be pretending to be more impressed by your film than you should be. Lame.
The Marsden Dilemma showcases the cast and crew dealing with the problem of having their one serious actor, James Marsden, being totally hated by everyone else on set. Double Lame.
Duke of the Internet purports to be an in depth expose on Clark Duke, but just barely touches on him and is more fake than real. Triple Lame.
After those three lane ducks (four if you consider the ill conceived introduction), I didn't have the patience to sample the director’s commentary. Perhaps one of you will tell me if that was mistake on my end.
Overall: 4/5 (not an average) Recommended
Despite the less than stellar extras Sex Drive made me laugh more than any other film in recent memory and it looks and sounds worlds better than I expected it to. The folks at Summit had treated us in Vegas last year to a sneak peak at this film and we literally roared at the trailer, and it REALLY rare that a film beats out the trailer for funny content and I am happy to say Sex Drive succeeded for the whole film. If this is the kind of content Summit will continue to put out, then sign me up right now, I’m down for whatever they have cooking. I just hope they can get the extras up to speed to match the quality of the films themselves.
