"Porn 'n Chicken." Rarely does a film's title alone highlight so much of what makes it great to be young in America – easy access to fast food and cheap thrills. Unfortunately for the filmmakers and young stars of Comedy Central's first-ever original movie, the intriguing title is probably the film's greatest asset.
The film revolves around five college seniors at an unnamed Ivy League university. All of the main roles are played by relatively unknown actors with only minor film roles and limited television experience under their belts. Although the real Porn 'n Chicken club hails from Yale (sucks), this picture was filmed at Columbia University's campus in Manhattan.
The narrator and lead character is Josh "Hutch" Hutchinson (Ebon Moss-Bacharach). Hutch, a self-styled "joyless, anal-retentive tool," is pathologically determined to get accepted to the unnamed Ivy's law school, the best in the country. In that vein, he has decided to make himself a well-rounded candidate – one that no admissions committee could reject. He is studying Urdu, feminism and constitutional law. In addition, he practices fencing and acts as student council treasurer. (If that sounds like any of you, even if all you did was take the L-SATs last Saturday, some porn and chicken probably wouldn't hurt.)
The story begins when Hutch's girlfriend dumps him for being boring. In an effort to cheer him up, Hutch's suitemate, the wealthy, handsome and bong-smoking Quentin (Alex Burns), invites him to take part in a little extracurricular activity that he and another roommate, Andy (Geoffrey Arend), use to relax.
If you couldn't guess from the movie's title, this leisure activity involves watching pornographic videos (the group begins with the classics "Debbie Does Dallas" and "Deep Throat") and eating fried chicken. Not to worry, the porn 'n chickeners do not go thirsty. Large amounts of beer are also consumed.
The oohing-and-ahhing from the three students as they watch the flicks is carried through a vent to another student's room. The noise distracts this sexually-naïve and overstressed student, Lenny (Michael Goldstrom). When he comes to complain about the disruption, he too is seduced by the flesh – the kind onscreen as well as that in the greasy paper bucket.
Hutch and Quentin make their porn-watching habit a campus-wide activity to win the approval and perhaps even the heart of Polly, a redheaded, sexually liberated and quite adventurous coed played by Angela Goethals. Goethals has had small roles in blockbusters like "Jerry Maguire" and "Changing Lanes." Those fascinated by movie trivia take note: Goethals acted with child star Macauly Culkin in both the original "Home Alone" and the lesser-known "Rocket Gibraltar."
Their participation in the club has positive effects on the members. Hutch becomes attractive in the eyes of his ex and Lenny suddenly finds himself in danger of losing his virginity.
Things start to get crazy when the five seniors decide to ignore the threats of university Dean Dick Widehead and attempt to film the first ever (known) Ivy League porn film. They risk jeopardizing their promising futures.
The movie has a good pace and fun, albeit caricatured, characters. Still, you might recognize some of your classmates in Hutch's insanely driven overachiever, Quentin's privileged playboy or, sadly enough, Lenny's over worked, sleep deprived virgin.
Writer/director Lawrence Trilling, whose other major work, "Dinner and Driving," premiered on HBO and can occasionally be seen at 2 a.m., had a good basic story to work with. It's a shame Trilling didn't do more with it.
The Porn 'n Chicken Club was a real Yale secret society that existed briefly from 1996 to 2001. The club, which is said to have had between 40 and 100 members (including the odd janitor here and there), caused a media frenzy when word spread that they had started filming their own skin flick. "The Staxx" (the name of the film in both the movie and in real life) was named for the Yale library – apparently a popular hookup destination for Yalies.
It's too bad that "Porn 'n Chicken" was made for Comedy Central and not HBO, another network under the umbrella of Time Warner. For starters, the freedom of premium cable would have at least made sex scenes a possibility, the absence of which in the Comedy Central movie is particularly distressing considering all the talk of porn. The movie also seriously lacked star-power. The most accomplished actor in the film is probably Kurt Fuller who plays Dean Widehead. Fuller, a veteran career actor in both movies and television, is memorable for his role in "Wayne's World" as Russel, the network lackey who switches sides to save Wayne and Garth's show.
Considering it's a made-fort.v. movie and that it's Comedy Central's first such attempt, "Porn 'n Chicken" is worth a look. The writers even managed to slip in some surprisingly graphic dialogue under the TV-14 rating.
You can catch a free sneak preview of "Porn 'n Chicken" tonight in the Frist Theatre at 11:15 p.m., brought to you by the Undergraduate Film Organization (UFO) and Comedy Central. "Porn 'n Chicken" will premiere on Comedy Central at 10 p.m. Sunday October 13.
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