I was wondering when the remorseless wheels of the remake mill were going to grind up The Sure Thing, Rob Reiner’s well-remembered rutting-teen-comedy-with-a-brain starring John Cusack as the youth going cross-country to rendezvous with a sexy golden girl; would he or wouldn’t he figure out that the demure brunette accompanying him was his soulmate instead? Well, the new Sex Drive claims a basis in some novel I’d never heard of but otherwise seems awfully like Reiner’s film, updated with an internet twist and scriptwriter’s eyes gazed crotchward. Sex Drive scores as lowbrow entertainment, opening with a pre-credit gag about slipping on sperm-soaked underpants, closing with a scrotum shot, as nice-guy Ian (Josh Zuckerman), a nebbish everyteen working a Mcjob at the mall food court, remains a love-starved virgin at the unspeakable age of 18. There’s a bit of creativity in the plot mechanics. Seth Green has an amusing supporting role, and I can’t totally hate a movie that includes the Broken Hearted Robot figure among the egregious product placements. HH
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2008.