Ziege, Häschen and Sven are best friends and just average teenagers with the usual problems: girls, hormones and the first sex. Being 16, all three guys are still virgin and look for ways to change it. Sven is the only one having a girlfriend, Ines, but somehow their relationship just doesn't work. Ziege just looks for a girl who could deflower him, until then he passes the time with, well, pleasing himself. Häschen falls for the beautiful Valerie and has another problem: Whenever he walks up to a girl to talk to her he farts. Everything changes when Ziege's parents return from an exotic holiday and bring a mask with them. Overnight a plant grows out of this mask and its juice has an incredible effect: Once you've taken it and it starts to work you get horny at the first person you see at that moment. When the friends want the plant to work for them they slowly discover that they actually don't need it.
What sounds like "American Pie" turned out to be maybe the most intelligent teenage comedy of the last years, by international standards. Pity it only ran on TV, I think it deserved a bigger audience. However, the comedy is pretty sexy with many hints but thank god less obvious erotic things. It's one of those movies where something begins on the screen and the result of it plays in the viewer's imagination and this is one of the film's greatest strength. But to be honest what I liked most about "Sex up" were not the hilarious jokes, but the way it portrayed its protagonists and the theme love. Boys in this film are not only stupid, cool, hormone-driven teenagers only stumbling from one funny situation into the other, they have feelings, they are vulnerable and the film takes the time to give each of them enough room to develop their character on screen and it's just great. Like I said, an intelligent comedy with a certain depth but still lightly enough to deliver great one-liners and the likes. Besides it finds elegant ways to deal with other topics: Friendship, loyalty, family, homosexuality and well, dancing on stage
The film lives, of course, mainly through its protagonists. André Kaminski, an inspiring young actor with international experience shows here a great comic potential and is very natural and comfortable in his role as the all-time-horny Ziege. Joseph Bolz, to some people familiar from "crazy" has grown up and matured, he, too, is a very talented and sensitive actor dealing with the most difficult part of the three. Jacob Matschenz, too, is great as the shy Häschen and is more the master of the more quiet tones. But basically everyone in this movie is casted perfectly.
Try this movie and enjoy it you'll love it. Especially because you certainly will discover yourself in one of the main characters. Three thumbs up for this summery coming of age comedy and a wonderful tribute to love.
