Image Entertainment presents

YPF (2007)

“So, I was thinkin…do you want to come to my room…with us?”- Gord (Ennis Esmer)

Stars: Aaron Abrams, Carly Pope, Kristin Booth, Josh Dean, Sonja Bennett, Josh Cooke
Other Stars: Diora Baird, Callum Blue, Ennis Esmer, Natalie Lisinska, Peter Oldring
Director: Martin Gero

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (strong sexual content, nudity)
Run Time: 01h:30m:24s
Release Date: 2008-10-14
Genre: comedy

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
A-	A	C+	C+	D

 

DVD Review

So, let’s say you’re lucky enough to attend the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, and you happen to see a movie called Young People F$%king on the schedule. What do you do? Well, if you’re among the honest festival attendees, you’d say that you would instantly buy a ticket, given the title alone. Whether first-time filmmaker Martin Gero was banking the film’s success on the title is something only he knows, but regardless of his intentions, the rookie auteur has managed to craft one of the more interesting, sexually charged comedies in years. Shortened to the more family-friendly YPF, this wonderful surprise makes its DVD debut thanks to TH!NKFilm and Image Entertainment.

When five young couples embark on a night of sex, it isn’t long before they realize that there’s much more here than a typical roll in the hay. For married couple Abby (Kristin Booth) and Andrew (Josh Dean), it takes the introduction of a toy and a bit of a role reversal to spice up their dormant sex life. Then there’s Mia (Sonja Bennett) and Eric (Josh Cooke), who have recently broken up, but soon realize that the proverbial spark is still there. Dave (Peter Oldring) soon learns that a normal night at home with his roommate, Gord (Ennis Esmer), and his extremely attractive girlfriend, Inez (Natalie Lisinska), is much more than he bargained for. At the same time things are getting kinky for Dave, womanizer Ken (Callum Blue) is after his latest conquest, Jamie (Diora Baird), and best friends Matt (Aaron Abrams) and Kristen (Carly Pope).

Split into six sections, or chapters, (i. Prelude, ii. Foreplay, iii. Sex, iv. Interlude, v. Orgasm, vi. Afterglow) the flow of the story mostly sticks to the themes insinuated in each title. We jump back and forth between all five couples, but director Gero ensures that we’re never confused as to what’s going on. He also never lingers too long on a given situation, always keeping us interested (and titillated). Despite the title, much of the graphic sex is kept off-screen, in lieu of fantastic storytelling. Rest assured, that there’s still plenty of eroticism, but much of it is depicted for the story’s and for comedy’s sake.

The film is aided by a stellar cast. The most interesting couple is Mia and Eric, and Bennett and Cooke (memorable in the short lived TV series, Four Kings) do an amazing job balancing the natural, initial awkwardness of their reunion with believable sexual chemistry. Oldring plays Dave as both creepy and kind of sad, but he still manages to have the audience sympathizing with his experience in the end. Dean is arguably the least of the actors, due to his nebbish, incessant whining, but Booth’s fine work with him makes us forget about just how annoying he often is, and how great her performance truly is. Gero’s film is a unique blend of wonderful acting and excellent storytelling, but even if none of it worked (and it does), he’s made something we don’t see everyday—an erotic character study.

Rating for Style: A-
Rating for Substance: A

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.78:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: The anamorphic 1.78:1 presentation is far from spectacular, but the transfer gives us exactly what we expect. Colors are rather muted, but there are instances of vivid hues. The images are mostly sharp and detailed, and black and shadow levels hold up nicely in the dimly lit rooms that dominate much of the film. There’s still a bit of dirt and grain here, but nothing that’s too distracting.

Image Transfer Grade: C+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks serve the material quite well. The mostly dialogue-driven soundtrack is well-presented, with crisp, clear speech at all times and more aggressive audio when it’s called for.

Audio Transfer Grade: C+ 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 8 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English, Spanish with remote access
1 Original Trailer(s)
2 Other Trailer(s) featuring Stuck, The Night of the White Pants
Packaging: Keep Case
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: The only extra feature is the theatrical trailer.

Extras Grade: D
 

Final Comments

If you’re shy about sex, then stay far, far away from YPF. If you have an open mind and enjoy a bevy of well-developed characters and a fine-tuned story, then it's a must. While Image apparently didn’t think including any extras was important, we do get good efforts in the audio and video departments.

Chuck Aliaga 2008-11-10