American Virgin (2000)

Truly Dreadful Film

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

This film features the daughter of a porn magnate with a boy friend she once trusted who appears to have strayed from the straight path of love. In a mixture of despair and retaliation she agrees to be the first star (victim?) on a new TV series which once every month will feature a virgin experiencing her first sexual liaison on camera. The film creates a parody of pornographic movie makers interested only in the audience such a program will achieve, and this is deliberately exaggerated to the point of being grossly overdrawn. Ultimately, it culminates in a pure slapstick sequence where the boy friend manages to penetrate her dressing room on the eve of the performance and convince her that he did not stray in the way she thought - she then tells the producers of the show that she is quitting, with the obvious results. The film ends after the TV connections have been severed by a sword leaving the happy couple able to consummate their liaison in relative peace. This parody of the porn industry displays promoters trying to bring their new series to screen in a very unkind light, whilst simultaneously providing some quite sharp satire. I did not feel it was as bad as some of the IMDb User Comments suggest; but the aim of the film makers appears to have been simply to create easily achieved comedy sequences - not to make a film with any social significance - and as a result much of this satire can readily be lost leaving a very cheap and tawdry residue..Ultimately I felt the film trivialised a serious issue, aiming to succeed as a comedy rather than to achieve any recognition for dealing with an issue of real social concern. Some of it was fun to watch, but much of the rest was (fortunately) very forgettable. The subject matter could have been treated much more realistically by, for example, introducing public reactions to the proposed TV series. Newspaper reviews could have been shown which on the one hand commended the proposed new series as contributing to the new attitude towards sexual freedom, and on the other condemned the TV channel concerned for further unjustified exploitation of the difficulties young people may experience in establishing worthwhile long-term relationships. These could have been augmented by featuring letters to the editor from fictional individuals with pre-determined viewpoints. Instead we had only cartoon level reactions to very extreme behaviour exhibited by cartoon type characters, which were mostly not worth watching.My final assessment is that this film provided a classic example of a lost opportunity; and that, despite its challenging subject matter, it is unfortunately not worth more than an IMDb rating of 2 out of 10.

American virgin is totally hysterical. It reminds me of some off beat comedies such as Flirting With Disaster, Living In Oblivion and, in some aspects Raising Arizona, The big Lebowski both made by the Coen brothers or even Tim Burton's Mars Attack. It is a screwball comedy which genuinely knocks down taboos with a lot of joy and freedom. I understand that it is not for all audiences not because it is offensive in any ways but because it is a head on commentary on sex, stardom and the medias of today. It shows in a harsh light but without ever loosing its bonhomie the mechanisms of what philosopher Noam Chomski calls the "manufacture of consent". In other words the news and entertainment business doing a good job at distracting us from thinking on our own and preventing us from focusing on what could be changed to make a better society. Sally Kellerman gives her best performance in years portraying a cynical talk show host and Bob Hoskins creates a complex character who comes up with hilarious speeches. Robert Loggia is the only one failing to bring more depth and variety to his part. Obviously a character actor unable to carry a starring role.

The subject matter of this movie is smart.Not only does is raise an interesting argument about the future of porn on the internet but it also shows the hypocrisy of those who make porn. The world this film creates is not to far off from the future and I give the writer credit for trying to show the internet for what it can be, one big whore fest polluting our children's minds and bodies. I read a review for this film in the New York Times. Suprisingly, they got the point of the film too. I'm glad they could appreciate the subject matter despite its limitations.

Ira Israel wrote an incredible good script and his vision was truly well executed by a talended director. Bob Hoskin is way funny and the entire plot is exellent. I hope this great team of people will do another film soon and meanwhile I highly recommand this picture to everyone.