'Sex drive' shifts gears on the usual teen-sex flicks

With a title like this, don't expect Shakespeare.

"Sex Drive" is a raucous teen-sex comedy with big laughs and a good bit of cartoonish naughtiness. It is in the tradition of "Porky's" and "American Pie."

In the tradition of what? Yes, "Porky's" (peeping into the girls' shower) and "American Pie" (the pie) have become classics of their genre. Like them, this one is aimed primarily at males we'd say between 13 and 19, but older folks can go and laugh at those raging hormones, too. That is, if they admit to such memory.

The plot is nothing. The characters are delightfully cliched and stereotyped. Relax and laugh.

Ian is a quiet-type lad who is mightily interested in losing his virginity and, so far, has been particularly uneasy around girls. He poses as a football player on the Internet to attract a response. When an Internet girl says she'll go "all the way" if he shows up in Knoxville, Tenn., he steals his brother's car and takes off, from Chicago.

Josh Zuckerman is likably awkward in the part, which makes up for a lot.

His sidekick is the slightly overweight loud mouth Lance, played by someone named Clark Duke. There is an interesting switch here in that the fat guy is supposedly the ladies' man, although we strongly suspect that all his bragging is overstatement.

"Sex Drive" moves a bit above its genre in that it introduces an outside character to temper the all-boy gross-out show. The presence of Felicia, played by Amanda Crews, softens the film in that she's the girl who has been Ian's friend since childhood. She's like a sister, although she has a potty mouth to match the boys. Watcha wanna bet that Ian will eventually realize that girls who look bodacious are not the only ones worth looking at? Maybe, true love is more important than gawking.

Surrrrre. It happens in the movies, but this idea would sink most teen-sex movies. It doesn't here. It lifts it a bit, just a bit, above the raunchiness.

The boys pass through the Amish country of Pennsylvania - a factor ripe for gag exploitation. Seth Green (always hilarious) adds a much-needed droll bit as an Amish mechanic who is hypocritical about it all.

James Marsden adds a lively outing as the jerk of an older brother who, in the end, has a secret. While he's been cast as heroic figures in other movies, he seems to have an urge to play low comedy. He does it well.

This is not as pretentious and gross-obsessed as something like "Superbad." In its own way, it is a return to innocence for the R-rated genre.

It arrives in theaters, finally, after what must be a record number of advance screenings. It has been screened over a half dozen times in the past month - suggesting that the studio thinks it has a hit - even without any star names. The studio might be right.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com