5
Jul/14

PREMATURE

5
Jul/14
Katie Findlay and John Karna play best friends in predictable coming-of-age teen sex comedy PREMATURE

Katie Findlay and John Karna play best friends in predictable coming-of-age teen sex comedy PREMATURE

PREMATURE (Dan Beers, 2014)
IFC Center
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Saturday, July 5, 12:00 am, Monday, July 7, 10:50 am, and Tuesday, July 8, 10:50 am
212-924-7771
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With Premature, cowriter and director Dan Beers set out to make a romantic teen sex comedy he described as “American Pie meets Groundhog Day.” Along the way, he and cowriter Mat Harawitz added ample elements of Risky Business and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Unfortunately, the final result has little of the charm and humor of those much smarter hits; instead, Premature is a silly retread saved only by a tender finale and a strong supporting performance by Katie Findlay (The Killing). John Karna channels Topher Grace as Rob Crabbe, an average high school kid who keeps getting a chance to relive one day over and over again, trying to lose his virginity with the superhot Angela Yearwood (Carlson Young). Each morning, his mother (Kate Kneeland) walks into his room and can’t help but notice he had a wet dream. Then his father (Steve Coutler) gives him a pep talk about his upcoming Georgetown interview. Rob hangs out with his best friends, the sweet and innocent Gabrielle (Findlay) and the raunchy and oversexed Stanley (Craig Roberts), is taunted by supernerd Arthur (Adam Riegler), and listens to Georgetown interviewer Jack Roth (Alan Tudyk) break down as they discuss Rob’s future. Each day ends with Rob shooting too early yet again, giving him the opportunity to try, try again, but while Rob might learn a bit more about life every day, Beers is stuck in tired repetition in this mostly limp, lowest-common-denominator coming-of-age comedy that attempts to give new meaning to that very phrase itself.