Obscure Films For Saturated Times: The Last American Virgin (1982)/Lemon Popsicle (1978)

Being that it is now Summer I am going to review one of my favorite teen sex comedies, The Last American Virgin. Released only five months after Porky's, The Last American Virgin became a cult classic and has helped pave the way for the teen sex comedies we know and love and the modern ones we have ultimately grown to hate in comparison.

Israeli director, Boaz Davidson made a film called Lemon Popsicle (A.K.A. Eskimo Lemon A.K.A. Going All the Way) which was loosely based on his own teen exploits while growing up in 1950s Tel Aviv, Israel. Released in 1978, Lemon Popsicle was a success and spawned nine sequels with the latest, The Party Goes On, released in 2001. In 1982, Davidson directed The Last American Virgin for American audiences while making some changes like setting the film in Los Angeles and the music from the golden oldies to modern rock music. The plot and even some sequences are basically identical, so I will talk about both here but focus mostly on the American remake.

Gary (Lawrence Monoson) is an average high school student and pizza delivery boy. He and his two best friends, Rick (Steve Antin) and David (Joe Rubbo) have what every teenage boy has on their minds: Sex. The horny trio are at their local hangout when they spot three hot girls, or rather two hot girls and one not-so-hot girl. The boys convince the girls to come back to Gary's house for the night in an attempt to have sex and after some comedic moments, Gary's parents come home unexpectedly and ruin the party.

Later on Gary crosses paths with Karen (Diane Franklin) and falls desperately in love with her. Gary attempts to get her to go on a date with him but is shot down and later finds Karen at David's party, dancing with Rick. Lovelorn Gary continues his quest for Karen's affection while she dates Rick, who just wants to take her virginity.

Since there isn't much to the plot and that there are some moments you have to experience for yourself, I won't go any further.

Now, there are a lot of interesting scenes in the film and while some are funny, some are serious, while others are down right perplexing and unintentionally funny. First off, Gary is a bit of a stalker. After seeing Karen at the local teen hangout, Gary asks David who she is and one morning before school, he pops her bicycle tire, backs his car up, drives up to her and asks her what's wrong. Since she is without transportation to school, Gary offers to drive her while pretending he didn't know which one she went to. I know that as a teenager, I often played dumb or did some things that were foolish in order to get closer to a girl but Gary is just plain creepy. If you think I'm overreacting, check out this picture below of how Gary stares at Karen in the beginning of the film:

The look Benji ( Lemon Popsicle's Gary) gives to Nikki (Popsicle's Karen) when he first sees her is nowhere near as creepy and seems more natural compared to Gary's which is guaranteed to make any modern girl reach for that pepper spray.

Nymphomaniacs, hookers, crabs, teen drinking, drunk driving, abortion, that cheap feeling after bad sex and a creepy Gary round out this brutally honest and groundbreaking teen comedy that I can't seem to get enough of. There is also a very interesting scene that takes place in the boy's locker room at school where the boys make a bet as to which guy has the larger penis and then proceed to line up and (hold onto your hats people)...

...MEASURE EACH OTHER'S ERECT PENISES!

I am seriously not joking and find it to be one of the most humorously disturbing scenes I've ever seen committed to film. The scene is also in Lemon Popsicle and I don't know much about Israeli film or culture but maybe this was just another instance of what teenage boys did in 1950s Israel but I can say that in 1980s America, this would just not happen.

I do have one small pet peeve about both films and that is the music. No, the music isn't bad (in fact the Virgin's soundtrack was used heavily to promote the film) but it's that there are a few songs that are repeated a couple of times throughout the film; while I see that as a different film making technique it can get a little annoying. I do tend to enjoy the music of Lemon Popsicle a little more as I am partial to oldies and think that the music is a better fit to the corresponding scenes.

What I love about the film the most is that it has no shame and is ready to give up the real side to being a sex-starved teenager while finding out about some of life's important and life-altering lessons. Lemon Popsicle is the more stylistic film of the two and while I enjoy it immensely I prefer The Last American Virgin mainly because of the things it got away with even for 1982. There is a part of me that wishes I had seen Lemon Popsicle first because I couldn't help thinking of Virgin while watching it which didn't diminish my enjoyment, however it's tough to watch a film that is almost identical without thinking of the other film. One enjoyable aspect of watching the two back-to-back is comparing identical scenes and seeing how small, practical things are handled differently from Tel Aviv to Los Angeles.

While the film isn't a hilarious knee-slapper there are some pretty funny moments and even some emotional ones. Last American Virgin is more-so a funny film with serious moments, perfect for parties and drinking games while Lemon Popsicle seems more of a serious film with funny moments. While that doesn't make either film better or worse, it is simply a difference of each film's tone. Virgin is also a great time capsule of the 1980s and the successes and failures of being a teenager with raging hormones. The last thing I will say about The Last American Virgin is that it has one of the most memorable and unconventional endings I've ever seen in any teen film.