Directed By: Clare Kilner
Written By: Jeff Seeman
Grade: C+
I expected American Virgin to be like one of the latter direct-to-dvd American Pie sequels. These expectations ended up being pretty accurate, but the film was more enjoyable than I initially expected. It’s very predictable, has over the top and one-dimensional characters and situations, and isn’t very original. There were funny parts and as I expected it to be like this it’s easy enough to take the good with the bad and enjoy the film for what it is.
Priscilla’s parents have been stressing the importance of abstinence, purity, and the steering clear of boys who would only take advantage of her. Priscilla adopts these values and goals and forms her own abstinence group, which helps her land a scholarship. Her long time boyfriend is going to school over 5 hours away, but she believes they can make it work. When Priscilla arrives she is horrified to find out that her roommate is the Naz (Davis), a wild, loose, party girl who has been at this school for 7 years, prolonging her fun rather than graduating. Priscilla is horrified by her messy tendencies and sexual appetite. The Naz gets her to loosen up a bit at a college party. Priscilla wakes up the next morning with no memory of what happened the night before and is forced to do the walk of shame.
The Naz tells her she got really wild and out of control last night even for her standards and tells Priscilla she can watch the whole thing on “Girls go Crazy”. They were taping the entire party, which presents a new problem; if she doesn’t get that footage back than she could lose her scholarship. If she’s caught on a pornographic tape her parents will disown her, her chance for an education will be ruined, and her entire reputation will be destroyed. So her and her friends take a road trip to Detroit where host of Girls Gone Crazy, Ed Curtzman (Schneider), will be shooting next. When they finally find him, Priscilla explains how her whole future depends on getting the footage back, but Ed couldn’t care less, claiming that she has the same story as every other girl.
The acting is so-so. I wasn’t all that impressed with Jenna Dewan as Priscilla. She played the part pretty flatly and very over the top. She really didn’t feel like a genuine character or someone I could think of on a real level because of this. Brianne Davis was a little more likeable as The Naz, although she was very over the top and unrealistic herself. She did have a lot of charisma and energy though that made things a bit more fun. Ron Schneider played the sleazy porn host well. There wasn’t a ton to his character but the crooked and slimy way he was portrayed in made him a fitting antagonist.
The sub-plot showed both that Priscilla’s relationship and even her idol that she based her whole life on weren’t as perfect as she thought. Chuck, Priscilla’s new admirer who seems to just want to get her to prove he can at first ends up being a good friend and a decent guy to have by her side. When Priscilla goes over the edge this ends up saving her. I liked that the romance between them wasn’t rushed at all and it really just gave them a chance to establish their characters a bit more by showing the decisions they made.
Priscilla’s beliefs, The Naz’s more carefree lifestyle, and the hypocritical nature of Ed Curtzman even offer a few themes in with the generic sex comedy. Ed claims in public that he believes in women’s independence and freedom to do whatever they wish with their bodies, claiming not allowing this would confine them and be sexist. In reality, he looks down on these girls for ‘giving it up for a free T-shirt’ and doesn’t have the littlest bit of sympathy for them. Through the way he acts and Priscilla’s regretting what happened we get a bit of a critique on the whole Girls Gone Wild thing since it is clearly mocking it and not portraying it in a very positive way. Even though The Naz is a little over the top in the other direction, the two extremes of her and Priscilla’s lifestyles blend to help them both find a medium between responsibility and fun.
The beginning starts out pretty funny with Priscilla’s parents are explaining to her how guys only want one dirty thing, that she should never have sex, and give her condoms when she was a little girl. There are some funny moments, but it’s not necessarily all that funny of a movie. When it is it’s more through the situation rather than the jokes themselves, which are nothing new or that striking. The movie isn’t anything great, but it’s more enjoyable than you might think and for a direct-to-dvd teen sex comedy, it really could have been far worse.
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