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Blu-Ray : Worth Importing
Ranking:
Release Date: October 21st, 2008 Movie Release Year: 2007

Young People F---ing (Canadian Import)

Overview -

Five stories that follow the endless and hilarious stream of complications that surround a single sexual encounter; leading from foreplay to afterglow. In each case, the couples discover that sex isn't always simple.

OVERALL:
Worth Importing
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
BD-25 Single-Layer Disc
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
90
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.78:1
Audio Formats:
French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles/Captions:
None
Special Features:
Theatrical Trailer
Release Date:
October 21st, 2008

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Yes, the title is really 'Young People Fucking'. No, it's not a porno. Isn't it fascinating how one word can totally change the trajectory of a movie's fortunes? Make a raunchy sex comedy filled from start to finish with profanity and graphic dialogue about human sexual activity, then give it an innocuous, non-specific title like 'American Pie' or 'Superbad', and that movie will play in every theater across North America and rake in hundreds of millions of dollars in box office grosses. Now take the same basic type of movie and give it a title that actually tells you in no uncertain terms what the film is about (i.e. young people fucking), and you'll have a much harder time finding a theater to run it or a mainstream audience to pay to see it. The Canadian studio distributing this particular raunchy sex comedy has been promoting it with the toned-down alternatives 'Young People F---ing' or sometimes 'Y.P.F.' to a fair amount of success in Canada, at least relative to the movie's very low budget. But it's certainly no 'American Pie' sized blockbuster, is unlikely to spawn a series of sequels, and is currently scheduled for only limited release in the United States (if it even gets that far).

So, if it's not a porno, then what's it about? 'Y.P.F.' follows five sets of characters as they all deal with relationship issues related to sex. The stories are continually intercut from one to the next, but are not directly connected and do not cross over to one another. There is no indication of whether the stories take place on the same night or not. Each couple (plus one trio) represents a specific archetypal relationship labeled on screen as: Best Friends, The Couple, The Exes, The First Date, and Roommates. The movie is structured in acts identified as: Prelude, Foreplay, Sex, Interlude, Orgasm, and Afterglow.

In the First Date section, a notorious womanizer tries to convince a neurotic coworker who knows his reputation that he's changed his ways and genuinely wants a relationship with her. Of course, he really just wants to get in her pants, and she suspects as much. Best Friends finds a guy and girl who've known each other since childhood attempting to talk themselves into one meaningless night of sex while they're both between relationships. The guy has some major hang-ups to get past first. The girl thinks he's being a pussy. The Exes decide to hook up once more for old time's sake. One of them hopes this might lead to something serious, and the other doesn't. The Couple have fallen into a relationship rut and lost the excitement in their sex life. The wife has a very, very bad idea for how to spice things up again. Finally, the Roommates are two guys, one obnoxious and overbearing, the other shy and withdrawn, who don't seem to care for one another's company very much. Nevertheless, the loud one brings his girlfriend home one night, and comes up with an unexpected proposition.

The film was made on a low budget and has no big stars. The most recognizable faces in the cast mainly come from TV, such as Callum Blue ('Dead Like Me'), Carly Pope ('Popular'), and Josh Dean (of the short-lived sit-com 'Free Ride'). Some viewers may also recognize "Playboy" pin-up Diora Baird, who had a bit part in 'Wedding Crashers'. Even if you don't know the names or the faces, the entire cast is young, attractive, and very appealing (and I don't just mean physically). All the performances are terrific, every set of characters has great chemistry, and most importantly the movie is funny as hell.

Despite the title, there's only a limited amount of T&A in the film, and quite frankly far too many scenes where the women keep their bras on during sex (Who does that?). The movie's profanity is all in the dialogue, which is filthy, filthy, filthy, even by sex comedy standards. The words coming out of Carly Pope's mouth will make your head spin. I fell in love with her instantly. The lines may be raunchy, but they're also consistently sharp, incisive, and witty. The characters are well-drawn and the situations don't feel too contrived. The jokes are downright hilarious and come at a rapid-fire clip. If you're not doubled-over in laughter by the time the opening title comes up, then this is simply not a movie for you, and you shouldn't watch any further. But if you are, 'Y.P.F.' is truly a standout in the genre, and will undoubtedly remain just as funny with repeated viewings.

What can I say? I enjoyed watching 'Young People Fucking'. Maybe you will too.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Young People Fucking' is available on Blu-ray in Canada from Maple Pictures. The movie's title is written as 'Young People F ing' on the disc case, but the film itself is uncensored. Although the packaging makes no reference to region coding, Canada falls into the same region as the United States. The disc is fully compatible with any American Blu-ray player. As far as I can tell, the Blu-ray is region-free in any case.

One note of warning for potential importers: The disc reviewed here was purchased from Amazon Canada, who shipped it with the movie's full uncensored title printed on the invoice slip attached in plain sight to the outside of the box. You may not want to have this one delivered to a workplace.

Video Review

Ranking:

In the audio commentary on the disc, the filmmakers mention their decision to shoot the movie on film rather than digital video. They also express satisfaction with the look of the picture. I can't say that I agree. It's very blandly photographed with flat, sit-com lighting in every scene. According to the technical specs available on IMDb, the movie was shot on 35mm film stock. I'd be very hard-pressed to tell that from the Blu-ray's 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer, which has been slightly opened up from its theatrical 1.85:1 dimensions to fill a 16:9 screen. It looks more like 16mm. The image is soft and grainy, lacking much detail, texture, or depth. Colors are also really pasty and unnatural.

In addition, the Blu-ray encoding is pretty poor. The grain looks quite noisy and the disc has a lot of noticeable compression and posterization artifacts. All in all, 'Young People Fucking' looks like shit.

Audio Review

Ranking:

There's nothing technically wrong with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. However, the movie has a typical rom-com sound design without much in the way of dynamics or excitement. Dialogue and music are nice and clear, which I suppose is a compliment. Songs on the soundtrack will occasionally hit a moderate bass note. If there's any surround activity at all, I didn't notice it.

The disc also has a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track, and it sounds about the same. This isn't a movie that makes much use of state-of-the-art lossless audio encoding.

Special Features

Ranking:

The Blu-ray isn't exactly feature-packed, but has a handful of bonus features.

  • Audio Commentary – Writer/director Martin Gero and co-writer/co-star Aaron Abrams deliver a very funny and engaging talk about such things as convincing actors to star in a low-budget movie with a title like 'Young People Fucking'. They actually had to shoot the movie under the title 'Young People' in order to secure locations, because nobody wanted to lease filming space to a porno. On the subject of nudity in the movie, and why there isn't particularly much of it, both filmmakers felt that too much nudity would be a distraction from the comedy. Also, the one Playboy model in the cast was the only person who refused to get naked. Go figure.
  • Behind the Scenes (SD, 5 min.) – A montage of B-roll footage in which we see that Canadians are really friendly people.
  • Cocksocks and Vaginal Patches (SD, 4 min.) – The actors attempt to explain and practice the use of genital-hiding equipment. Pretty funny.
  • Cast Auditions (SD, 23 min.) – A few minutes of this goes a long way, but it's obvious that most of the cast had the required chemistry right from the start.
  • Trailers (SD, 4 min.) – English and French dubbed versions of the theatrical trailer. Both are censored.

Don't be put off by the title. 'Young People Fucking' is a sharp, observant, and downright hilarious comedy about sex and relationships. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray looks kind of awful. Even so, the disc isn't too expensive to import, and is worth seeking out anyway.