This is one of the best comedies out there...if you're 14
Eric Hofmann | San Diego, CA USA | 07/10/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Josh Hartnett plays the male lead Matt, in this "movie". Hartnett's other roles are quite variegated and some of his greatest roles are in Lucky Number Slevin, Sin City, Black Hawk Down and The Virgin Suicides. The female lead in this movie is Erica, played by Shannyn Sossaman, most noted for "A Knight's Tale", but has also been seen in One Missed Call and Rules of Attraction. Josh Hartnett's character makes a para-religious vow to abstain for 40 days and 40 nights from all sexual activity to get his ex-girlfriend Nicole out of his system. He, of course, meets Erica in the middle of his vow and has real trouble keeping his vow as they fall for each other.
There is little good to be said about this movie. It does have a few larfs, it has a couple of jerky, gratuitous shots of naked breasts. Its soundtrack is modern and kinda catchy. Overall, how this got a R rating, I'll never know. This is strictly PG13 fare.
This movie is disguised appeal to abstinence and prudery. It has some objectionable material. An anti-arabic phrase is used, a the female lead has a stupid conversation with her roommate "He's treating me with consideration, like an equal." "Kinda sucks, doesn't it?" "Yeah, it sucks." WTF? I'm not uber-feminist, but the entire movie seemed to be a religious, pro-abstinence, idiotic farce. It had some thinly veiled misogynistic messages, although they were against society's grain of misogyny. It's humor was strained and threadbare. It lacked any real insight into people or relationships. It had a catholic priest making out with a nun. What purpose did that scene really serve? This movie presupposes that everyone is an idiot. I really am left without much comprehensible to say. A big disappointment for the careers of Hartnett and Sossaman.
Pointless.
Absurd.
Borderline Offensive.
Juvenile.
That about sums it up.
In related news, Maggie Gyllenhaal, an excellent actress, played a lackluster supporting role in this movie. She shined as best as she could, but got mired in the absurd script.
I had this DVD sitting around and felt recently encouraged due to the enormous success with "chick movies" I felt with "He's just not that into you". Which is an actual movie, not a piece of crap hiding in a genre. This movie's a big pass. If you need something kinda thin to prop up that wobbly table leg, this DVD might be perfect."
Shannyn Sossamon would get me to break my vows too!
Andrew Ellington | I'm kind of everywhere | 09/15/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Ok, I'm going to be VERY honest here. The only reason I sat through this entire film was because, after seeing her in `A Knights Tale', I became obsessed with Shannyn Sossamon. She is nearly the perfect woman (OMG she is so hot) and so I'd watch her in anything. This film is sadly beneath her. The script is rather nonsensical (but most of these teen sex comedies are), but what makes it worse is that it doesn't really deliver on the `stupid funny' side of things either. I actually found most of this film rather ridiculous to the point where it was irritating. The concept of the film had promise, and it does at times make a point with regard to the differences between male and female interpretations of their own sexual needs, but overall the film remains very low-brow and somewhat ignorant of it's own message. This film just serves as an excuse for horny guys to make a lot of sex jokes and wantonly look at barely clothed (sometimes not clothed at all) women. Hey, I'm all for that as long as the film is funny. This one isn't. It isn't funny and it isn't smart. Hartnett has talent and I have always liked him as an actor, so he sold me on his character despite the many holes presented by the script. Still, the only reason to see this is for Sossamon. She is breathtaking, spunky and just entirely edible. This movie would have been far more believable had Hartnett has his way with her in the Laundromat."
Cute and Perverted
Ash | 03/29/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This provocative movie is funny and cute. Of course I love Josh Hartnett so I like this movie, but it is quite entertaining. If you don't mind a bunch of perverted scenes than you will probably enjoy this one."