Joy of Sex

I love finding 80s teen comedies that I haven't seen before. This was one of them and it has some really funny moments. It might not be as good as other main ones like animal house or porkeys but still deserves a higher rating.

This is one example why I take reviews for movies with a grain of salt.

Most people would probably say that the "National Lampoon" franchise jumped the shark in later years, but it was bad as early as this time. They just happened to be making better movies featuring the Griswold family. This isn't quite one of the worst comedies I've ever seen. That's probably only because modern bad comedies are worse and constantly use fart and poop jokes. Much of the humor in this film comes from making jokes about animal genitalia. The funniest bit is when the teacher says she wishes she could teach in kindergarten where sex was a word no one understood.

The basic plot is that a girl thinks she's going to die soon and tries to lose her virginity. They use the old out of context eavesdropping trope. The fact that there's a bunch of misbehaving young adults makes it seem like they were trying to cash in on the success of "Animal House". Then again, this was based on a book...loosely apparently. It's weird how this could even be considered a National Lampoon movie if it was based on something else. The story is mostly pointless and the characters are bland. *1/2

This film's low rating is not surprising, exactly, but it deserves better. Granted, it has suffered on several levels, from being tied to a title of a book that it had nothing to do with, to John Belushi's death prior to filming. All of this is unfortunate, as a lot of people go into this film expecting something that it was never meant to be. Plus, as someone noted, the poor editing certainly doesn't help.

All that aside, what we're left with is a pretty decent 80's teen comedy along the lines of Better Off Dead, Weird Science and The Last American Virgin. Though not as classic as the above titles, it shares a lot of the same elements, and has plenty to offer to fans of the genre: some great lines, some genuinely funny scenes, a flashback to that 80's American high school experience that's embarrassingly perceptive enough to still ring true, and the great underrated Michelle Meyrink.

It is seriously overdue for DVD release.

This is the worst film Martha Coolidge has done, as only having seen a few of em. Hey, I like this movie, as it only gets funny in the latter part of movie, with consistency, thanks to two characters, who are classics: a geeky teacher, who's the butt of the student's jokes, the tall one with the glasses, an absolute extroverted world class d..khead. The other is a t.v host gigolo, who doesn't mind making out with young girls. Yes we see a few familiar faces from other around the time Coolidge movies. Cute Meynick, who's very good, is convinced she's gonna die, thanks to this mole she has, as overhearing a conversation with her doctor. Hardly the case. Meanwhile a narc is one of among the students at Lincoln High. Meynick desperately wants to lose her virginity. She's not the only one. And yes, what are the chances these two make out. Joy Of Sex, is a disappointment, as in the fact, it's been adapted from a novel, so you expect to be quite good, but it just joins all the other cheesy 80 sex comedies, which painfully, I knew it would be, as not really being anything special. It's entertaining though, and that's thanks to a lot of good actors wasted in a movie that's dreadful. Christopher Lyodd is a classic, as a highly strung P.E. teacher and Meynick's Dad, while Camp as the narc (god, why did she do this) flashing her goodies is funny and really good. Langois is cute as Meynick's best friend, while exchange student, Abdul, bringing a very familiar Sixteen candles scenario, as the enigmatic stud, was fun. Dye as the student, who's missing out is typecast, and brings a good attracting performance. The short, frizzy haired "all woman", seen in sleazy prison films, was another fun character. On the whole, Joy Of Sex is worth watching, yes, too for 80's fan, a VHS rental, even hard, to acquire at the time, but like I said, it's simply dreadful and wastes so many good actors, some of them we don't see on the screen, anymore, and boy, do we miss em' too. Wipe this one under the carpet, Martha.

Not the best, but I am a fan of Michelle Meyrink. She was so cute and innocent.