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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Sex Drive (2008)

Rating: 2 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Screw for the Road

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Sex Drive on DVD

A nerd who wants to lose his virginity takes a road trip to find a "sure thing" and instead realizes that he's really in love with his pretty, longtime (tomboy-ish) best friend. There's at least half a dozen classic movies buried in that plot synopsis, and Sex Drive chooses not to acknowledge them, hoping that its young audience is ignorant. Still, the new movie is lighthearted and sort of sweet, and it can be a pleasant diversion. Josh Zuckerman plays the nerd, Ian, who meets a hot girl on the internet (of course, he has lied, claiming that he's a buffed football star). He steals his brother's sweet GTO and hits the road with his pal Lance (Clark Duke), an equally nerdy but hilariously competent ladies' man, and his cute best friend Felicia (Amanda Crew). We get the usual pit stops with the usual setbacks and "funny" supporting characters, but the funniest surprise is Seth Green as Ezekiel, a supercool Amish guy who can fix cars and is a master of sarcasm. Equaling him is James Marsden as Ian's idiot jock older brother Rex, who has an endless array of derogatory "gay" jokes. Eventually I even grew to adore Felicia and admire Lance, even if Ian kept making me wince.

DVD Details: Summit Entertainment has released a two-disc Special Edition DVD with the expected "unrated edition," though this turns out to be a better joke than just about anything in the movie. The filmmakers introduce it as "not the real movie," and promise lots and lots of gratuitous nudity, which they deliver. Naked women and men very simply walk through scenes for no reason at all! Otherwise, the DVD comes with some funny featurettes and a commentary track. Also available on Blu-Ray.

With: Josh Zuckerman, Amanda Crew, Clark Duke, James Marsden, Seth Green, Alice Greczyn, Katrina Bowden, Charles McDermott, Mark L. Young, Cole Petersen, Dave Sheridan, Michael Cudlitz, Allison Weissman, Andrea Anders, Kim Ostrenko, Brett Rice, David Koechner
Written by: Sean Anders, John Morris, based on a book by Andy Behrens
Directed by: Sean Anders
MPAA Rating: R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, language, some drug and alcohol use -- all involving teens
Running Time: 109 minutes
Date: February 17, 2009