Like no other Canadian film in years, "Young People Fucking" is being released "wiide" into nearly forty theatres on Friday, June 13th (in US Cities this summer) in a response to the upcoming Bill C-10 legislation, which if passed can result in Canadian films being refused government tax credits if the government deems the content offensive. There are so many problems with this piece of legislation that I will keep it out of this film review for the most part, and what's worse is that this movie appears to be the scapegoat because of the film's title. With that said, this piece of news is an ironical one; the film will get so much attention over a bill so ridiculous, but simulteanously any attention for Canadian cinema is a good one because these films hardly ever play out of film festivals. And "Young People Fucking" is so good. It's just so fucking good.

"Fucking" follows five couples, all in their mid-to-late twenties. The film is broken up by chapters into the segments of sex from the beginning all the way past orgasm to post-cuddling pillow talk. There's a couple who are trying to spice up their sex life, a womanizer who finally gets her co-worker under the covers, a bizarre couple that invites another man into the bedroom so the husband can watch from the sidelines, and a couple about to split up but decide to have sex just one more time. The film takes place entirely in the bedrooms (and the occasional front door) of the couples and intercuts frequently between them as the chapters progress.

The genius of director Martin Gero's film (which he co-wrote with Aaron Abrams, one of the film's leads) is how we relate to the quirks and personalities of all the leads in the film. His use of long takes and careful close-ups let us feel really close (almost too close) to these characters. In one of the film's earlier moments, Carly Pope plays a character that is reasoning with her friend who she simply wants to fuck to get that lovesick urge out of her system. Ms. Pope has this bizarre intensity in her eyes where she can make you simply stop and stare back into them, even as she believes that "Sometimes a fuck is just a fuck." Later, there's a shocking moment where a evening tryst turns out that one side is using the other, and it's not the side we were thinking of.

I loved the entire cast in the film, which includes a mix of top Canadian talent, a few American actors and a Brit. Chief among my favorites include Carly Pope as the wise-talking young woman out to shag his best friend, the jaw-droppingly beautiful Sonja Bennett as a woman who tries to connect just one more time with her ex, Ennis Emner who has some of the film's biggest laughs as the too-close voyeur, and Josh Dean as a boyfriend who is a bit unknowing how to liven up the goings on in the bedroom. And while she isn't the best actress in the lot, the voluptuous Diora Baird is just...wow.

There is no pornography in this film whatsoever, and the fools in power trying to pass Bill C-10 should actually go out and watch this movie. It is a hard R-rated film, for sure, and it features several beautiful women nude along with strong sexual language (The recent "Sex and the City" had more nudity). It is a film made by adults, for adults and especially couples that will absolutely relate to the material in one way or another. Legislation or no legislation; "Young People Fucking" is one of the funniest comedies to come out of Canada in a long time, and one that I hope finds an audience across the border as well.