Jeunes adultes qui baisent

Director Martin Guero knows that the title of his first film, YOUNG PEOPLE F#@KING, is brash enough to grab anyone's attention. It could be misconstrued as a title meant to entice lonely, older men to weekend matinees but in an effort to dissuade these "gentlemen", I will tell you the people in question here aren't that young. These particular people are all in their mid to late 20's, all relatively white and all essentially straight. This does not bode well for this self-professed modern exploration of what it means to be a player in their prime in today's supposedly kinky sexual playing field. Still, you can feel Guero smiling from behind the camera, content with himself for telling it like it is. Only Guero's idea of today's sexual experience is so steeped in convention that it is anything but provocative.

To make his film even less reverent, Guero divides his young people into perfectly constructed boxes. These particular groupings are so well established in the public's vernacular that Guero doesn't need to spend any time establishing any actual history in his characters. Who has time for the human touch though when you're talking about humans touching? A couple, two friends, two exes, two people on their first date and two roommates all find themselves in the throws of passion, or at least the throws of pastime, on one very busy night in one undisclosed city. Now, I'm warning you. The following may be too shocking to handle. The couple, well they have gotten bored with their sex life and now barely have any sex at all. The people on their first date are saying a bunch of things just to get into each other's pants. Even the friends are hesitant that if they were to have sex, it might somehow change the friendship they have relied on platonically for years. By reducing his characters to such tired clichés, Guero has crafted a hollow exploration of caricature rather than an actual character study.

Who knew that sex could have such a giant impact on people and relationships? Oh, right, everyone knew that already. Sex is the ultimate complicating factor and the definitive line that only occasionally warrants crossing. Should friends cross it? Should exes? How about strangers? No matter who you are, both alone and together, before you cross it, you will be changed once you do, no matter how many lies you tell yourself to con your mind into making a supposedly sound decision. You take that step, leave the planet for a while if you're lucky and land on your feet if you're even luckier still, a changed person for having taken the risk. Simply put, sex is big. YOUNG PEOPLE F@#KING however, is nowhere near as monumental as that and you'll forget it by the time the condom is off.

You certainly don't know what to expect with a title like YPF. Maybe some soft-core action? What you get from this movie is so much more than what you thought.

It is five separate stories: two exes getting together, a first date, a married couple who have lost the spark, BFFs, and two roommates with a girl. Five separate stories that come together in a way you would not expect.

Yes, it's about sex, and it's about twenty-somethings, but it is also much much deeper. It is about expectations and relationships and being open to new experience. Sometimes things don't work out, and sometimes they work out in ways that blow your mind.

It is seriously funny.

With its provocative title and the general controversy surrounding it thanks to Bill C-10, director Martin Gero's debut film "Young People F-cking" has gotten a far wider release in Canada than most films of this sort do, getting the chance to compete with the likes of "The Incredible Hulk" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" in 2008's summer season. I can't think of a film more deserving.

"Young People F-cking" is honest, real, unpretentious, sad, and funny all at the same time. Its script is one of the best I've come across in quite a while, using a unique narrative which takes the 'six phases of sex': prelude, foreplay, sex, interlude, orgasm, and afterglow- in that order, and applies them to five different couples (well... four couples and a threesome). The film progresses through the six phases in order, cutting back and forth between the five couples, 'Friends', 'Couple', 'Exes', 'Roommates', and 'First Date', and observing their interaction with each other.

These stories vary in quality but even the weakest; the Roommates story, is involving and fun as long as you remember that while Gord is exaggerated, there ARE many guys like him around. Martin Gero and Aaron Abrams are smart enough not to play all of the stories for laughs, with the 'Exes' story maintaining a wistful, slightly sad tone albeit one punctuated by humor. The 'Friends' portion of the script is also remarkably true-to-life and the only one other than the 'First Date' story that I could personally relate to. My favorite story within this film was the 'First Date' portion starring Callum Blue and Diora Baird; it's hilarious, insightful, and never boring in the slighest.

Providing superb drama, good comedy, and some of the best and most entertaining observations on sex outside a Woody Allen offering, "Young People F-cking" is THE movie about sex for anyone in their twenties or thirties right now. I can't promise that the film would maintain its best strengths for those who can't relate to the events on screen. I expect that people over forty or so will enjoy the film less than younger people because after all even the politics of sex change, just like everything else.

Fresh, unique, relevant, and beautifully photographed and directed, "Young People F-cking" is unquestionably going to end up as one of the best films of 2008. It is just phenomenal.

8.75/10

Five relationships are depicted as they try to have sex. Best Friends Matt and Kristen try to be friends with benefits. The Couple Andrew and Abby are trying get some excitement back into their sex life. The Exes Mia and Eric try an one night stand. The First Date has Jamie bringing his date ladies man Ken back to her apartment. The Roommates has Gord and Inez inviting his tired well-hung roommate Dave to join them.

These are superficially drawn characters. I like the actors which keeps my interest to some extent. However the movie is not that compelling and definitely not as funny as it wants to be. The Roommates section is definitely trying way too hard. The Best Friends and The Couple are the two that has the best comedic potential. Also if each story is expanded, they would probably be the most compelling ones. The concept is highly questionable and the writing needs to be much better. There has to be a connection between the stories other than the stale title cards.

Going into a movie called Young People F**king, there is not much one can expect outside of what the title is selling. Yeah, the trailers made the film look funny, and pronounced the critical acclaim for it, but unfortunately, its brash title's suggestion is the only reason people will either run to see the movie, or avoid the film like the plague. And for such a great little film, that is truly a shame.

The film follows four very different couples (and one three-person group) through the course of one night in their sex lives. It picks up right at the beginning introducing the couples (from one that is actually labelled as "The Couple" to another labelled as "The Friends"), and the circumstances that brought them to the inevitable sex, and then progressively goes through the various steps these groups go through from the pre-sex, to the after-sex (cutting back and forth between the groups in-between each of the six intervals).

What is most interesting about this film is how many different ways it covers sex. No one couple in this film is the same, and through the film's clever use of cutting back and forth between them, the audience can genuinely say that they have sat through something truly unique. In North America, sex is always looked down upon as being totally taboo, and a healthy dose of action is what audiences end up getting fed instead. When certain films show up on the radar, like the blazingly unrivalled, albeit, nearly pornographic Shortbus two years ago, they are met with controversy and are almost automatically put down for their depiction of something so inherent to human life that we would cease to exist without it. Young People F**king is not as graphic or raw as Shortbus, but it would be much in the same category in what it is trying to accomplish.

Young People F**king succeeds in being a great film because it stays within reality. Yes, there are certain things said and done that some may not find to be normal, but for the most part, the film plays on sexual stereotypes and sexual themes that everyone knows and can find solace in. The small cast of characters on-screen are real, and are dealing with real issues. There is little to no fantasy being explored here. These are characters that have had their emotions stomped on, who have genuinely real problems that just about anyone in the audience can relate to. The filmmakers know the universality of their subject, and they know that comparisons are going to be made. What they might not have realized in their developing of the stories and characters, was just how affecting it would be.

What also makes the film a success is how funny it is. It never once tries to go over-the-top (minus one particularly vulgar piece of dialogue that the trailer cleverly teases at), and for the most part, stays grounded in the reality of how one would imagine these couples would interact. The film knows its audience, and it stays true to its characters. For every hilarious nugget of dialogue, there is another that is funny only because of how honest and truthful it is, and another that is truly moving. The film does not skimp on trying to make itself out to be something it is not. It wants to be frank, and it does not even try to steer around the topic of sex. And in that respect, the film delivers in spades (and real comedy unlike some of the forced sex comedies we are used to seeing).

Singling out one couple or one character in the film would giving the film its proper due. Every single one of the eleven actors involved in the film make this film what it is. No they are not perfect in their acting styles, but then, neither are these characters. They pour their hearts into making the film believable, real and mature. They all work well off their partner (as none of the groups interact with any of the others), and you can see the honest and sincere emotions in their facial and body expressions (since there are many moments where dialogue is not expressed as much as facial emotion). Yes, some of the situations these characters encounter may seem ridiculous, but the cast rolls with them, and makes them feel just as normal as any other.

If the film suffers from any imperfections at all, it is in that it feels boring at times. Its quick and blazing fast opening suggests that it will not dwell, but in exploring its characters, it unfortunately falls into some fairly exhausting and dull moments that have trouble picking back up. And it is the same problem with every couple featured in the film, in that they just cannot keep up with the pace the film wants to have. I appreciated the deep explorations these characters got, but I think there could have been an easier and faster way to get to some of them. It feels like the filmmakers know how they want to approach these couples, and know how they want to explore their uncertainties and real world emotions, but they just miss the mark in a few instances. It is not a widespread plague that ruins the whole movie; it just halts it from getting from one place to the next in specific instances.

For what the film promises in its title, Young People F**king does an excellent job of making itself out to be a comedy, but out to be a drama all the same. It is funny, sweet, vulgar, and touching all at once. It is an excellent must-see film, if only because of how it treats its subject. It suffers only because of some boring instances, but then, so too does life itself.

8/10.