'Sex Drive': the new 'Superbad'

Last year, one of the most decisive questions for film buffs was “‘Knocked Up’ or ‘Superbad?’”  But now, the new question will, or at least should be, “‘Superbad’ or “‘Sex Drive?’”

“Sex Drive” has some undeniable similarities with “Superbad”: both films center on high school kids; both films center on high school kids who talk insanely dirty, and both films center on high school kids who are obsessed with getting laid.

Much like the modern masterpieces “Superbad,” “Knocked Up” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Sex Drive” works not only because it’s sidesplittingly hilarious, but because at the core of the story it has heart.

The film centers on Ian, a lovable loser whose brother suspects he is gay because of his total ineptitude at landing girls. When the bombshell who has been talking to him on the Internet tells him that if he drives down to Knoxville, Tenn., to meet her, she’ll “go all the way” with him, he steals his brother’s 1969 GTO Judge and embarks to Tennessee.

Along for the ride are his best friend Lance (Clark Duke), a smooth ladies man despite his goofy looks and his secret crush Felicia (Amanda Crew).

The plot, of course, is cliche, but the laughs are not. If you’re looking for the witty pop-culture references that worked for the Apatow films, you won’t find them here.
Instead, “Sex Drive” gains its laughs from, but not at all limited to the following: Ian’s continuous and total humiliation in front of his new mother-in-law, a talking donut costume with a boner, a sarcastic Amish asshole (played to perfection by Seth Green) and the ridiculous party-crazy ways of the Amish as they’re depicted here.

Some of the best comedies ever made have been released in the last year and a half (and all by Judd Apatow), and it’s pretty easy to say “Sex Drive” belongs right beside them.