I Want Candy

The old write-about-what-you-know adage works for this Ealing Studios comedy about a couple of film students struggling to make their first feature. Of course, a plot contrivance demands that it be a porno. Joe (Tom Riley) and Baggy (Tom Burke) meet an adult film producer (Eddie Marsan) who’s prepared to finance the production of their earnest student screenplay. That’s if they tweak it a bit – you know, insert some lesbian scenes, a bit of anal. The selling point is the star, Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra), but the boys’ promise to secure the famous actress proves a bit hasty.

And so the lads from Leatherhead must pursue their leading lady while holding casting sessions with lithe locals. While the audition scenes are fraught with clichés (a Thai girl even does a ping-pong ball trick) the film is on much stronger ground when Joe is forced to produce the skinflick in his parents’ suburban semi while they’re out at work. The comedy of sexual embarrassment and innuendo is staple stuff, but it’s often well done and thrown at the screen thick and fast, rarely dwelling on a punchline to pointed effect. (‘Everyone, back door!’ ushers Joe when his parents are spotted returning home early. ‘Woah, woah, I didn’t agree to that!’ responds his female star.) Many moments stretch credulity – who would replace a pear in a fruit bowl after inserting it where the sun doesn’t shine? – and Electra’s performance is one-note. But despite the usual failings of a cash-strapped British film – unconvincing subplots, continuity errors, ropey bit-part actors – this cheerful exploitation of ‘The Full Monty’ formula still entertains.