Written by Alex Sukhoy for Film Slate Magazine. Thursday, 23 September 2010

In the most poignant scene of 1991’s “Truth or Dare,” while Madonna’s doctor examines her throat, Warren Beatty turns to the camera and says about his girlfriend of the time, “She doesn’t want to live off-camera, much less talk. There’s nothing to say off-camera. Why would you say something if it’s off-camera? What point is there existing?” This two decade foreshadowing of the YouTube world has fueled “The Virginity Hit,” the new comedy from Gary Sanchez Productions (“Funny or Die”). The makers of this alleged documentary, writers and directors Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, play their biggest joke on the members of the audience, who are never really sure if anything in this movie is real or staged.

A combination of “Punk’d” and “Borat” meets “American Pie” and “Cruel Intentions,” “Virginity” follows the story of childhood best friends from New Orleans: Matt (Bennett), Zack (Pearlman), Jacob (Davich) and Justin (Kline). The story’s premise is that all four need to lose their virginity and then share in the communal bong hit ritual. And, while three of the young men eventually partake in the act, on the eve of his planned special evening with his girlfriend, Nicole (Weaver), Matt, the last man standing, finds out that the love of his life cheated on him with a college guy. The rest of the movie is how his three amigos and adopted sister Krysta (Rodriguez) conspire to do anything and everything possible to get their friend laid.

The antics begin when a group of young people, including both men and women, set up Nicole in a hotel suite for a rendezvous that, unbeknownst to her, is being recorded and ready for internet broadcast by the conspirators in the adjacent room. This plot fails, so the friends find a gorgeous woman who takes Matt on as a charity case, but first he needs to acquire a designer suit. When he goes to the bank, to tap into the college fund that his ailing mother left for him before her death, he learns that the account has been liquidated, which forces a confrontation between him and his alcoholic deadbeat dad, followed by a burglary stunt in a clothing store. The last and most desperate act involves a fundraiser to secure a date for Matt with his porn star obsession, Sunny (Leone).

Throughout all the adventures, with the exception of the two moms – Matt’s biological mom, who’s shown in flashback, and his adopted mom – the film portrays women, most teetering on the age of eighteen, as bkini-clad objects, ready, willing and able to strip, get drunk, wash cars while someone hoses them down, dance naked on poles, swallow chocolate dripped into their mouths off a roof top and have sex. Consensual? Probably. Awkward? Absolutely.

During several moments in “Virginity” roaring laughter filled the theater, with dialog and action so absurd that it’s hard to tell where the suspension of disbelief begins and where the mockery ends. Also, real or not, camaraderie exists amongst the characters – an unflinching, if sometimes suspicious, support, especially by the parents.

Is “The Virginity Hit” a coming of age story or is it misogyny disguised as a loss of innocence buddy movie? Only the viewer can decide.

DIRECTORS: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland SCREENWRITERS: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland PRODUCERS: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Owen Burke CAST: Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Jacob Davich, Justin Kline MPAA RATING: R