Coming of age movies are pretty common in Hollywood, but as in most cases Hollywood style they tend to be badly done. This one is surprisingly good, directed by George Constanza himself, Jason Alexander. The movie gives you a good portrait of a kids becoming teenagers and reaching that point where they are curious about sex among other things.
The main protagonist of the movie is Lenny Levine played by Ryan Merriman. As the movie begins he's going on his summer vacation from school and he's determined to see an actual act of 'love' before he returns the next fall. His main opportunity would be with his mom and her new husband. His first attempt failed and his step dad suspects what he's doing. For this he is banished from his home in the Bronx and sent to relatives in the 'country', Brooklyn.
He thinks going to Brooklyn he'll have a better opportunity to witness sex because he can see his much more virile Uncle Phil have sex with his Aunt, except that she's pregnant. Lenny also meet up with a bunch of kids his age who has a sex club. Except instead of performing sex they just talk about sex and look at pictures of people having sex. His biggest opportunity to see a sexual act he realizes is with a pretty nurse from the neighborhood named Hedy Colletti (Gretchen Mol). In the end the first act Lenny witnesses is not what he expected and it shattered some of his belief but also bring forth a revelation.
The movie is very honest in portraying how kids that age really have interests in sex. And for the most part it shows them to be clueless about it and in desperate need of guidance. It also show how idolizing and hero worshiping can sometimes lead to big heart breaks. Lenny idolized his Uncle Phil and sees him as someone he would like to be. Until one night when he sees something he never thought Phil would do. It was also of this event that he finally learned the truth about his father whom he also idolized.
Also preconceptions can be shattered. He ends up spending sometime with Hedy and realizes she's not just a sexual object but a real person with a past that's not too different from his. But the biggest and best revelation is his stepfather who he thought was a creep. Instead he finds that the stepfather is really a nice guy who would never hurt his mother and would like to be friends with him. He even give Lenny a book that helps him guide through sexual maze that he was entering.
All in all it's a sweet film that's very entertaining and that at the same time shows how young people are curious about sex and how misguided they really are. The first sex act that Lenny witnesses eventually leads him to realize that sex and love does not necessarily goes hand in hand. And that sex sometimes comes out of neediness more than true affection.
The main protagonist of the movie is Lenny Levine played by Ryan Merriman. As the movie begins he's going on his summer vacation from school and he's determined to see an actual act of 'love' before he returns the next fall. His main opportunity would be with his mom and her new husband. His first attempt failed and his step dad suspects what he's doing. For this he is banished from his home in the Bronx and sent to relatives in the 'country', Brooklyn.
He thinks going to Brooklyn he'll have a better opportunity to witness sex because he can see his much more virile Uncle Phil have sex with his Aunt, except that she's pregnant. Lenny also meet up with a bunch of kids his age who has a sex club. Except instead of performing sex they just talk about sex and look at pictures of people having sex. His biggest opportunity to see a sexual act he realizes is with a pretty nurse from the neighborhood named Hedy Colletti (Gretchen Mol). In the end the first act Lenny witnesses is not what he expected and it shattered some of his belief but also bring forth a revelation.
The movie is very honest in portraying how kids that age really have interests in sex. And for the most part it shows them to be clueless about it and in desperate need of guidance. It also show how idolizing and hero worshiping can sometimes lead to big heart breaks. Lenny idolized his Uncle Phil and sees him as someone he would like to be. Until one night when he sees something he never thought Phil would do. It was also of this event that he finally learned the truth about his father whom he also idolized.
Also preconceptions can be shattered. He ends up spending sometime with Hedy and realizes she's not just a sexual object but a real person with a past that's not too different from his. But the biggest and best revelation is his stepfather who he thought was a creep. Instead he finds that the stepfather is really a nice guy who would never hurt his mother and would like to be friends with him. He even give Lenny a book that helps him guide through sexual maze that he was entering.
All in all it's a sweet film that's very entertaining and that at the same time shows how young people are curious about sex and how misguided they really are. The first sex act that Lenny witnesses eventually leads him to realize that sex and love does not necessarily goes hand in hand. And that sex sometimes comes out of neediness more than true affection.