Whipped

Anyone old enough to remember courtship, will be shocked by Whipped. These guys talk about women as sexual fodder. So much for the feminist revolution!

Brad (Brian Van Holt), Zeke (Zorie Barber) and Jonathan (Jonathan Abrahams) meet every Sunday for brunch at a New York diner. Their friend, Eric (Judah Domke), joins them, but he's not taken seriously because he's spoken for. How can a married guy have juicy stories about conning chicks into bed? He has juicier stories about what he does to his wife with kitchen utensils.

Their entire conversation concerns scamming, another word for lying to girls in order to have sex with them. And then they discuss the merits, or otherwise, of their conquests in language that would disgust a hooker. Brad's arrogance is breathtaking, Zeke's charm nauseating and Jonathan's shyness pathetic. As for Eric, he's pervy and sad.

They meet Mia (Amanda Peet), a Julia Roberts lookalike, separately, and decide that she's the one. Mia plays them along. The boys fight over her. Is friendship thicker than lust? Do you care?

Following in the tradition of The Brothers McMullen and She's Gotta Have It, Peter M Cohen produced, wrote and directed Whipped on the thinnest of shoestrings, completing the filming in two-and-a-half weeks. Such ingenuity and self-confidence should be applauded at a time when Hollywood churns out bland twentysomething pap at vast cost. Cohen's achievement is considerable. Pity the subject matter offends the sensibilities of anyone with an iota of respect for romance.