Sex Ed (2014)

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The film attempts to use humor to demonstrate the need for real sex education in the classroom especially in the day and age of the uncontrolled, uncensored Internet. (Enjoy it while you can.) Edward Cole (Haley Joel Osment) is trained as a math teacher and can't get a job in Florida as one, believe it or not in world that screams for math teachers. He leaves his dead end job at Bubby's Bagels to accept a job as a detention monitor which has the same kids everyday. He discovers there is a real need to teach the kids sex education, against the wishes of Rev. Hamilton (Chris Williams). Hamilton claims the kids should learn sex ed at home, although this is not getting done.The film tries to be funny by creating quirky characters who give us advice like, "Never do two illegal things at one time." The dialogue left something to be desired. It attempted to be funny through shock value, but at may age there is no more shock, so the dialogue had no value. When Lorenza Izzo wants to jump into the sack with you, I don't care who you are, you don't say "no."Unrealistic and Unfunny.Guide: F-bomb, sex, brief nudity (Monika Casey)

At first, I thought this movie was going to completely suck. The story didn't make much sense at first and was sort of weird. However, once I got around the first half of the film I began to really see and understand the message. This is when I truly began to connect to this film in many different ways. I've had times within my life where I just feel lonely and desperate similar to the main character, Cole. There's nothing wrong with me (I hope), I've had multiple relationships throughout my young life. I've had times where my life felt great and where finding someone to get to know wasn't difficult. However, eventually this feeling of happiness and confidence drifted away. After a year long on and off relationship, I'm truly alone. I've tried to meet new people and find someone who I could hopefully, truly connect with, but as you can imagine, I've had no luck. This stage of life or feeling is referred to in the movie as a "dry spell" which is something that I, a 17 year old teenager just graduating high school, am fairly aware of. I've kept telling myself to just get out there and find whoever you can get and make the most of it similar to how Cole's friend Jt instructs him to do. While watching his movie that scene within the bar really inspired me to try and go out to find some girls and to hopefully end my 'dry spell'. However, by the end of the second half, my mind completely changed. Cole eventually realized that it wasn't important whether he got girls or had sex and that all that truly mattered was that he had to be true to himself. Cole learned that being the man he wanted to be was the utmost important thing and that doing the right thing matters most. This movie might not be the greatest or most exciting movie out there but it seriously has one of the greatest messages out there for young men. I didn't really thing that I would have clicked on this film in my Netflix browser but I have to say that I am truly happy I did.

'Sex Ed' has a solid comedic premise: Eddie, a sexually inexperienced 23-year-old teacher, struggles to teach a sex-ed class to middle school kids. Beyond that, there's not much else going on. Fine direction from Isaac Feder and good performances from the whole cast, especially Haley Joel Osment, whose boyish charm carries the movie. Unfortunately, the story is paper thin and there aren't many big laughs. The secondary characters are all underwritten. Retta's character exists only to offer Eddie corny motivational speeches from behind the bar, and Lorenza Izzo is used exclusively as a prop for Eddie's sexual desires - why she is immediately attracted to his awkward speech and creepy stares, I have no idea. These characters - along with Eddie's roommate and his girlfriend - flit in and out of the movie when the plot requires them and have no depth or stories of their own.While there is a lot of potential and talent involved in the film, it just isn't funny or interesting enough to hold your attention for 90 minutes.

This movie may appear to be a bit of a flop at first. Potentially going on a traditional ''gangsta school inspirational teacher'' line but it certainly is not. It is a real, honest movie with a brief but bright spark which is lost in too many movies of today. Its meaning is not deep or profound, and doesn't pretend to be as such. I would say that this movie can be watched by teens and adults and both will find relatable content. Acting is modest and there lies its brilliance. The story is one that we can all relate to in some degree. I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie for a Sunday through to Thursday evening.