La Boum américaine

Dreary. Dull. Devoid of any real merit. That is just for starters. Yotzim Kavua, a film I saw under the pretense of Going Steady, was an experience to sit through. First, let me explain how I came to watch it. I bought a 50 movie pack from Mill Creek Entertainment as I like bad movies that can be fun to watch. Some are entertaining as so-bad-its-good types, some are much better than one might imagine, and then there is the third group - those which are painful to sit through and induce a catatonic stare 15 or so minutes into them. Going Steady wasn't that bad, but it really has nothing going for it as far as I am concerned. I didn't know anything about it prior to seeing it. It is a sequel in itself and had at least three or four more sequels after it. Really? This was a sequel and had more sequels? It was produced and made in Israel and is spoken in Yiddish(I think). Sophomoric tales of kids trying to get tail are that popular in Israel? Who'd have thunk it. Anyway, the acting is not horrible just not inspiring. The jokes are along the vein of what you would find in Porky's or American Pie and other crap like that. I can't say I fell in like with anything in the film, but for what it was trying to be I guess(I know by its future successes) it must have achieved them. I am not going to write about the director and actors as I am not familiar with any of them. One thing I did find interesting is that it does offer a window into life in another culture and country. That is always something I find interesting, but beyond that seeing one distasteful scenario after another, a fat boy wedged out a window, and the typical high school pranks that mark adolescence supposedly are not the stuff my dreams are made of.

The whole gang we saw in Lemon Popsicle is back. Benzi (Yftach Katzur) is now going after Tammy (Yvonne Michaels) with the same energy he devoted to Nikki in the first film.

Martha (Rachel Steiner) was making eyes at Benz in the first movie, and she takes it to a whole new level in this film, but like Benz and Nikki, it is not destined to be.

Benz and Tammy have their ups and downs, but Momo can't get this one.

We still have the same great 50s soundtrack with songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, The Platters, The Champs and more. Even thought the movie is longer, they only have half the songs. Bummer.

The growing pains felt by adolescents are timeless and, as this hidden gem I found that was set in 1950's Tel Aviv shows, apparently universal. Thankfully this was tossed in a 50-film megapack, 'Drive-In Movie Classics'--otherwise, from the producers, director, and no-name cast involved, I would likely never have come across it. It's basically a mix of 'American Graffiti' and 'Porky's', but the script is the right mix of angst and humour, and the actors make a little go a long way with their charisma and chemistry. The 50's songs and complete lack of any sort of pretension are overwhelmingly refreshing and appreciated! I had no idea that this was in fact a sequel (another name for it is 'Lemon Popsicle 2') and part of a series. I would certainly love to track the other films down...

The main problem I had with the Israeli-made Lemon Popsicle-and its American remake The Last American Virgin-was that despite Benji in Popsicle and Gary in Virgin having a big crush on Nikki/Karen, he still went out with his friends to have sexual encounters with other women. So it's just as well that this sequel to Popsicle basically ignored pretty much all the events from its predecessor since here, their characterizations are a lot more consistent. This time, Benji's got the hots for a girl named Tammy, Bobby's going out with Shelly, and Huey's girl here is Martha who was in the last one as the best friend of Nikki who's nowhere to be seen this time. As before, Martha actually likes Benji and even tries to make the moves on him this time when Benji and Tammy have a fight. I'll stop there and just say because of the more consistent characterizations, I found myself laughing more than its predecessor got me to do and I also liked the way things went on sequentially especially the end which wasn't a sad one like the last one. Though I have a feeling Tammy will be gone by the next installment of the Lemon Popsicle series but for now if there's an entry that I feel works best for me right now, it's this one. So that's my recommendation of Going Steady.

"Going Steady", as it's called here in North America, is actually the second entry in the Israeli "Lemon Popsicle" film series. I have seen several other entries in the series before this one, and I think I can safely say it's one of the lesser entries. The movie is not without merit. There is a great soundtrack of '50s hit songs (how was this low budget movie able to afford all of them?), the period detail is acceptable for the most part, and while the cast is too old to be playing teenagers, they do bring in some instant likability. Which is good, because some of the characters engage in some really cruel and selfish behavior, which taints the movie significantly. A bigger problem with the movie, however, is that the movie has little plot, and seems content to frequently spin its wheels for a long time. That might have been forgive had the movie been funny, but it isn't - the comic situations are lame and predictable. How this disappointing movie didn't finish the series right there is beyond me - maybe something got lost in the translation to English in the dubbing room.