With the growth of social networking and lives lived online, it makes sense to present the latest teen sex comedy in a format that theoretically mirrors the lives of actual teens. So the approach of The Virginity Hit, structured as a series of YouTube videos and other footage taken by cell phones and digital cameras, is both inventive and obvious, and the only problem with it is that it fails to convey the humor and emotion necessary for an entertaining, satisfying coming-of-age comedy.

The Details

The Virginity Hit

Matt Bennett, Zack Pearlman, Nicole Weaver

Directed by Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland

Rated R. Shows September 17-19, 9:30 p.m., Rave Town Square; opens citywide September 24.

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The plot could have been grabbed from any more traditional narrative of the last two decades: Nerdy, awkward Matt (Bennett) is the last among his group of four high-school friends to remain a virgin, so his best friend Zack (Pearlman) makes it his mission to help Matt become a man, while documenting the whole thing. Typical gross-out moments and contrived set pieces ensue, but their comic potential is often muted by the jumbled camera work and confusing points of view. There’s no good way to capture this kind of humor with a true verité approach, so writer-directors Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland cut corners to fit everything in, only succeeding in making it both less realistic and still not particularly funny.

Bennett and Pearlman have a poor man’s Michael Cera/Jonah Hill vibe going on, and the rest of the cast barely registers. Botko and Gurland try to add some pathos to Matt’s story, but the scenes that deal with his late mother and absentee father are more painful than poignant, and the depictions of his mistreatment at the hands of women carry more than a little misogyny. By making all of these teen-sex clichés into something “real” and immediate, the filmmakers only highlight how unpleasant they actually are. Sometimes the traditional approach is still the best option.