It's the thirtieth anniversary of Revenge of the Nerds this year. The reason I mention this is because I just recently picked it up on blu-ray and it's still, all these years later, one of my favourite sex comedies of all-time. Director Jeff Kanew went on to a career with a handful of Hollywood flicks (V.I. Warshawski, Gotcha!) before ending up at our subject here: Adam and Eve. Like Nerds it's also a comedy set on a College campus and contains underdog characters but it seems Kanew has completely forgotten what makes this type of flick work while the script, written by his son Justin, switches uncomfortably between being an earnest love story and (at times) grating raunchiness. It's these jarring shifts that make it hard to enjoy what's here despite a few okay performances and one or two mild gross out chuckles. Basically it just made me want to pop in Nerds so I could watch "We've got bush!" in HD.

Another movie sporting the National Lampoon tag above the title but really having nothing to do with the legendary humour magazine apart from being yet another negative mark on the brand, Adam and Eve opens with Adam (Cameron Douglas), who looks like a heavy-lidded stoner and enjoys writing bad folksy songs on his guitar, spotting Eve (Emmanuelle Chriqui) on their college campus. He's instantly smitten and they soon start dating. This gives us an early, typical, montage of them doing the expected things young love usually involves in the movies - you know stuff like walking on the beach, having goofy fun in public, and making out. But it's during these make-out sessions that Adam learns that not only is Eve a virgin but that she's also saving herself until it feels "right".

Thus begins the flick's flip flopping. There's many scenes of Adam feeling sexually frustrated while being ribbed by his slob frat brothers, Eve having meaningful discussions with her parents and sorority sisters and a whole lot of tasteless humour. You see, in this college world, the frat boys live in squalor while the sorority girls sit around sipping wines and having deep talks - what Universe is this? Adam and Eve go through the usual break up/make up situations on the way to a predictable finish. Meanwhile, I sat there wondering just who the Hell this movie is for.

It's just so damn weird sitting there expecting a sex comedy and having seemingly serious messages about virginity bumping up against jokes about masturbation, a lengthy discussion about ass wiping, a scene where Adam and his pals compare pubic hair, and a mean-spirited gonorrhea moment. I just wish the Kanew's could have decided what type of comedy they were going for and stuck with it. They're not going to get the T&A audience due to the serious moments and they're not going to get someone looking for a wholesome comedy about abstinence when someone is tricked into drinking tainted urine.

Douglas, the son of Michael, proves he doesn't have the range of his dad as he kind of sleepwalks through everything going on around him and it certainly isn't to his benefit that Adam is kind of an asshole for most of the flick. In an unfortunate turn of events his career would be halted by multiple drug possession charges. He was convicted in 2010 and has been in prison ever since. Chriqui ("Entourage", Waiting...) is certainly cute and way more likeable than this movie probably deserves. She just comes across as a nice "girl next door" type. For some reason I also liked Chad Lindberg (October Sky, the I Spit on Your Grave remake) as Adam's chain smoking frat brother Freddie. He just drifts through the movie with a lackadaisical attitude and amused me.

While Adam and Eve isn't the worst effort to sport the National Lampoon name above the title (incidentally it isn't in the actual credits only on the DVD artwork) it's sort of like a schizophrenic guy you go out of your way to avoid. Its multiple personalities don't mesh and, considering its pedigree, should have been much better. Kanew made Nerds, so I can forgive him, but he also would reteam with Lampoon years later on the woefully awful looking 300 spoof The Legend of Awesomest Maximus. (Chris Hartley, 7/27/14)

Directed By: Jeff Kanew.
Written By: Justin Kanew.

Starring: Cameron Douglas, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Chad Lindberg, Jake Hoffman.