Dir: Martin Gero. Canada, 2007. 91 Mins
Young People Fucking is quite clearly a title that's out to grab one's attention. Neither documentary nor hardcore, it's an ingeniously constructed pastiche of sexual encounters presented affectionately and with humour. Reminiscent of American independent movies of the 1980s, the film should really be titled 'Young People Talking About Sex'. There's too much talk and not enough action in the balance and eventually the straitjacket structure of the script is a schematic that grows tiresome.

Still there's considerable mileage to be exploited from the title, some very funny scenes and an impressive young cast. Its assets should ensure modest international exposure as a niche release with crossover potential in a couple of upscale territories.

Debuting feature director Martin Gero and actor Aaron Abrams' screenplay looks at five different relationships, its focus shifting between four different couples and one threesome. The relationships are identified as The First Date, The Friends, The Exes, The Couple and The Roommates and the chapters go from prelude to afterglow with intervening stops along the arc that include sex and orgasm. Each story evolves in a linear fashion but is randomly told in sections interspersed with the other four vignettes. The stories do not cross, and the characters do not interact, but are thematically linked.

The set ups are generally predictable, but the banter and interplay initially keeps the film lively and engaging. However, as each story proceeds, one can feel them laboring under the strain of trying to inject a novel twist.

The underlying sweetness in the movie's content is a mixed blessing. On the plus side, the cast is able to get across often profane dialogue as if it were lingua franca. But there's no real sense of tension or danger in the situations and something patently false about a film of this nature that displays no below the belt nudity for either gender.

Technical credits are modest. The exception is the score and music choices, which keep the tempo as the episodes start to flag.

Production Companies
Copperheart Entertainment (Can)

Distributors
Christal Films (Can)

International Sales
Thinkfilm (US)

Screenplay
Martin Gero
Aaron Abrams

Producers
Steven Hoban
Tracey Bolton

Cinematography
Arthur Cooper

Main Cast
Carly Pope
Callum Blue
Diora Baird
Aaron Abrams
Sonja Bennett

Topics