Young People Fucking (Canada, 2007)

Director: Martin Gero

People see it and giggle. Co-Workers ask me in a hushed whisper if I’ve seen this “Fucking young people film?” The government jumps on it and it becomes the poster boy for the new bill (C-10) that would allow government to deny tax credits to films they find ‘offensive’. The title rolls onto the screen in big white lettering on a completely black background.
The word “Fucking” is in the title. I get it. Let’s move on.

The film is a series of inter-cut vignettes which follows the obstacles of five couples (The Exes, The Threesome, The Unadventurous Couple, The First Date, and The Best Friends) as they attempt to HAVE sex. It’s not supposed to mean anything. It’s just a little bit of fun. It’s just sex.

Complexities follow.

Behind a ‘controversial’ title (We’re moving on right?) is a light fluffy film that skims over the surface of the subject matter it sets out to broach. The only attempt at Drama (Capital D here) is the ‘Exes’ part of the film. And even then it reaches a conclusion that has any meat on its bones. Maybe that’s the point. But that doesn’t mean it’s interesting to watch. The rest of the stories are happy to be broad comedic sketches on subject matters you’ve seen variations of before. The ‘dirty’ part is kept to a few bare breasts, rear ends and a frightening strap on dildo. The fucking happens on screen, but with pre-planned non threatening angles. It’s the edgy film that won’t put you on the edge!

It's an allright little ride but I couldn't help but grind my teeth as missed opertunity after missed opertunity sauntered by: The ‘Best Friends segment never goes anywhere, the ‘First Date’ hits obvious beat after obvious beat, and the 'Couple' is nothing more then an excuse to have a ONE gross out gag. The one standout is the ‘Threesome’ segment, which is filled with enough strong performances and clever direction/writing that it would have probably worked better as a short film.

The credits rolled. The title was displayed on the screen in BIG WHITE LETTERS ON BLACK again. I felt like I had just witnessed a few ‘risque’ dirty anecdotes I’d be comfortable sharing with my mum. No big reveals. No dramatic beats. Only fluff. Lots of fluff. The director’s joked during the Q&A session that there was a chance film would have been released under the name “Bed-Time Stories”. If it had, the whole shee-bang would have gone straight to video and been sentenced to the bargain bin. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before. Go rent ‘Short-Bus’ instead if you’re in the mood for more in-depth deconstruction of sexual intercourse. Just don’t bring your mom to that one…