Sex Ed: El maestro aprendiz

Okay, so it's not very original, but the director clearly stole the premise of School of Rock which happens to be a favorite of mine since I am a guitar player of 28 years. The best way I can put this movie into perspective is that it is School of Rock with rock and roll replaced by sex education. The kids were great, Hayley Joel Osmant was great, the supporting adults were great, just a great movie. I gave it 7/10 but that's a really strong 7/10. I rarely write reviews...mainly because I suck at writing them, but this is a good movie and don't believe the naysayers. I was thoroughly entertained and it was also fascinating to see HJO in a role other than the "creepy-kid". Best movie ever?.....certainly not. Boring?.....certainly not. Give it a chance. I loved it and the bad reviews are just snobby know-it-alls.

This movie may appear to be a bit of a flop at first. Potentially going on a traditional ''gangsta school inspirational teacher'' line but it certainly is not. It is a real, honest movie with a brief but bright spark which is lost in too many movies of today. Its meaning is not deep or profound, and doesn't pretend to be as such. I would say that this movie can be watched by teens and adults and both will find relatable content. Acting is modest and there lies its brilliance. The story is one that we can all relate to in some degree. I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie for a Sunday through to Thursday evening.

Let's get this out of the way first: yes, Haley Joel Osment looks-wise isn't the kid who sees dead people or even his 16-year old self in the wonderful "Secondhand Lions". He's chunky (and could use a good haircut), but damn! is he a really good actor.

He carries this movie, he makes what could be a one-note or creepy character come alive. It helps that he has a terrific script to work with, it could easily have turned preachy fast but except for a scene near the end, it's more about Ed, HJO's character, and his lack of self- esteem, awkwardness around women, career frustrations and so on.

The rest of the cast is really good as well, especially Lorrenza Izzo as Pilar, Retta as bar owner/landlord Sydney, Matt Walsh as the school administrator Washout and young Isaac White as Leon. The rest of the cast is fine as well, even in the small parts. It's well directed and filmed and the score is full of toe-tappers. Special note should be made of the band that plays in Sydney's bar, what terrific musicians.

If you take this movie for what it is --a low-key, low budget comedy with some points to make-- it's a nice way to spend 90 minutes.

I actually thought that the movie would be more toilet humor-orientated. It was what I saw from the trailer - jokes about genitals, image of the outsider protagonist having difficulties with talking to ladies and his successful friend being almighty alpha male.

But the movie itself is about something different. It focuses on other, more philosophic topics - what makes man a man and what makes life worth living. It depicts the process of growing up as a person, some good patterns of behaving yourself with the person you like and why does it matter to protect your point of view.

However, the humour part is still good. If toilet jokes are OK to you, some gags will definitely make you burst out laughing.

All in all, "Sex Ed" may not be the movie that the trailer shows, but it doesn't make it any worse. Such kind, melodramatic comedy, in reality, is a good way to spend an evening with your friends and/or your fiancé, if toilet jokes and topics are OK to them.

'Sex Ed' has a solid comedic premise: Eddie, a sexually inexperienced 23-year-old teacher, struggles to teach a sex-ed class to middle school kids. Beyond that, there's not much else going on.

Fine direction from Isaac Feder and good performances from the whole cast, especially Haley Joel Osment, whose boyish charm carries the movie. Unfortunately, the story is paper thin and there aren't many big laughs.

The secondary characters are all underwritten. Retta's character exists only to offer Eddie corny motivational speeches from behind the bar, and Lorenza Izzo is used exclusively as a prop for Eddie's sexual desires - why she is immediately attracted to his awkward speech and creepy stares, I have no idea. These characters - along with Eddie's roommate and his girlfriend - flit in and out of the movie when the plot requires them and have no depth or stories of their own.

While there is a lot of potential and talent involved in the film, it just isn't funny or interesting enough to hold your attention for 90 minutes.