Barquillo de limón

After so many years, I finally watched this, the original Israeli version that was remade in America as The Last American Virgin by the same writer/director Boaz Davidson. Possibly set in the late '50s or early '60s, it concerns three teen boys and their attempts of having sex with various girls/women. But one of them, Benji, has a crush on a new girl named Nikki. Nikki, however, seems more into Benji's friend Bobby. The third boy is their heavyset friend, Huey. Since the set-ups are mostly the same as The Last American Virgin, I'll discuss them when I review that one. For now, I'll just say that I find the characterizations somewhat inconsistent but I guess that's to provide some excuse for easy laughs concerning sexual situations before the surprising ending concerning who ends up with who. Having said that, I did indeed still find those situations funny. And the conclusion is the kind that you'd rarely find in this particular genre of film...

Israeli teen sex comedy Lemon Popsicle was without a doubt a trip down memory for co-writer and director Boaz Davidson, who would have been a teenager himself at the time that the film is set: the late-1950s/early-'60s. Watching the film is also a big dose of nostalgia for me, reminding me of the early '80s when my teenage self and my best friend would attempt to hire the most racy videos from the local rental shop. The shop-keeper wouldn't let us have any of the Electric Blue titles from the top shelf (although we did somehow manage to rent a heavily-edited version of Dracula Exotica on one occasion); more often than not we would make do with one of the Lemon Popsicle films, which the man behind the counter was happy to let us take home despite the 18 certificates.

Lemon Popsicle details the sexploits of best friends Benji (Yftach Katzur), Bobby (Jonathan Sagall) and Huey (Zachi Noy), who spend their spare time trying to get laid. Benji thinks he has found the girl of his dreams when he sees Nikki (Anat Atzmon), the beautiful new student at his school, but to his dismay, she falls for Bobby, who is way more popular with the ladies. When Bobby pops Nikki's cherry and gets her preggers, he dumps her, leaving Benji, who is in love with the girl, to raise the cash for an abortion and care for her while she convalesces. Unable to keep it in their pants, the guys also take take part in a penis measuring competition in the high school locker room, score with a nymphomaniac called Stella (Ophelia Shtruhl), and pay for a prostitute (Denise Bouzaglo) who gives them all crabs.

The film definitely features enough T&A to satisfy a pair of horn-dog youngsters (Shtruhl and the lovely Atzmon get totally nekkid), but it is also a well told tale of teenage angst, with engaging characters, a strong script with lots of amusing escapades, a rockin' soundtrack featuring 24 chart bustin' hits of the '50s, and a wonderfully downbeat ending that goes to show that the course of true love never did run smooth. The film was big hit at the box-office (and on home video, its success helped just a little by yours truly) and was followed by numerous sequels, spin-offs and remakes.

Although Lemon Popsicle is actually a sex comedy, it's not offensive at all and the fact that it is set in the early 60s provokes a feeling of innocence and naivety. It's about situations most of us have been through during puberty (and beyond) : chasing after some girl, going to parties hoping to make new acquaintances etc. The soundtrack is beautiful and adds a lot to the accurate depiction of that era. The direction is another story...

The first sequel was not as good.

6

Rated R for Language,Sexuality/Nudity and drinking - all involving teens

I was curious to see the film The Last American Virgin.Since I am a teenager(im 15 years old) I enjoy teen movies.I do not just like newer ones such as American Pie or Superbad but I also like the classics such as Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Sixteen Candles.I wanted to see The Last American Virgin because I heard it was fairly realistic.I had heard that it was a remake of an Isreali film from 1978 entitled Lemon Popsicle.When I found the entire movie on youtube, I watched it.Unlike Last American Virgin which took place in the 1980's, Lemon Popsicle takes place in the late 1950's or early 1960's.The best part about this film is the 1950's soundtrack.There are plenty of hits from the fifties in this film.The film is about Benji and his two friends.Benji meets this girl who he falls in love with but this girl has the hots for his best friend who is the stud of the group.The first part of the film is like any other teen sex comedy, there are plenty of funny sexual situations that the characters get into.Then suddenly the film turns from comedy to drama as the girl Benji likes tells him that she is pregnant and his friend will not pay for the abortion.Benji then helps her out and confesses his love to her.You probably will not see the ending coming and I will not spoil it here.Lemon Popsicle is a teen sex comedy which is pretty funny at times and has a good amount of drama as well.It is a fairly hard to find film and has not been released on DVD yet.

If hollywood needed to learn from a script for 'The Last American Virgin', it would have come from this movie. The movie was made in the late 70's and depicts an early 60's Israel. The movie portrays teen-age situations, surrounded by a wonderfully rich soundtrack. In fact, the soundtrack is so good, you can just close your eyes and not watch the movie at all. HOWEVER, the soundtrack is thoughtfully mixed into the plot to provide a very nice effect.