The Five Bees - A Good Old Fashioned Orgy

One cannot be faulted in thinking that late-night sex comedies or even just regular sex comedies always seem to be targeted at teens. Sometimes older teens, but definitely older, high-school, and early college kids. Of course, these are the years of rampaging hormones, so it all makes sense that these crazy kids like toilet humor, boobs, and all the genitals they can handle. But, with A Good Old Fashioned Orgy, we see a tale told about adults, all who are neurotic and broken in their own ways. They also want to have sex with each other because their vacation home is being sold. Because nothing says funny sex movie more than emotional trauma, and broken friendships. Just like the teen versions.

A Good Old Fashioned Orgy sees everyman actor Jason Sudekis as Eric, a man in his later thirties, or so. I am not really sure how old these characters are supposed to be. Anyways, his dad, who is super rich, and owns a vacation home, which Eric and his friends party at, decides it is time to sell it. His main reasons being, a seller's market and that his son is a dope who throws massive parties that slowly ruin the property value. Eric and his friends are flabbergasted and decide to throw one final bash on the Labor Day weekend to say goodbye to the home. After some soul searching, Eric and his man-friend Mike, played by Tyler Labine, decide to have friends only orgy. Now, I am not sure how an orgy between friends is planned, so I will not refute the way this comes into being. Anyways, through some more soul searching and a lot of coercion, Eric's friends agree to have sex with each other at the same time. Now, they just have to go through with it.

The movie boasts a great comedic cast with Sudekis, Lake Bell, Tyler Labine, Lindsay Sloane, Nick Kroll, Will Forte, and more. But, having good comedians in your cast does not guarantee funny, especially in a movie that is a bit more depressing then laugh-inducing. All the characters have their own personal issues, and, while they aren't into the orgy from the beginning, they use their problems as a reason to say screw it and join in. These are the types of "adults" who spend as much time razzing each other as they do share goods times. None of them seem to remember the parties they throw either because they are all alcoholics. When the orgy does start, it becomes a bitchfest as they all air their grievances with each other before finally not caring and having the sex.

After the sex starts, A Good Old Fashioned Orgy never goes too raunchy, but also never pushes the bar as a sex comedy. It started to feel like they wanted to make a movie about people coming out of their shells, but couldn't get out of their own to accomplish that. That doesn't mean nothing is funny in the movie. Labine has some great lines, and the older parties the group throws look fun as hell. Some jokes and moments make you at least chuckle, even if they are scattered among the more uninteresting parts. There is also an awkward moment when the group learns about bracelets that teens wear, showing what kind of sex acts they are willing to do. This leads to a creepy scene where the two leads see a teen ice cream seller with blue bracelets on and have a gross fantasy chat about it. Those moments, coupled with the constant bickering, almost ruin the film. It's like watching a lot of privileged adults whine about not getting free parties anymore and decide growing up means having group sex that they kind of regret.

So, with all this talk of creepy bracelets, and depressed adults, how does A Good Old Fashioned Orgy hold up in the files of the Fives Bees?

The Five Bees

---

1- Boobs – There is the odd smattering of boobs, but very little nudity overall.

2- Butts – Again, they are strewn through the background and sometimes the foreground.

3- Bikinis – Plentiful but not used in a creepily sexual way. Apparently, Bikinis are also just bathing suits.

4 – Boners – Yes, and a few soft ones too. As for the more comedic role of the word boner, Labine takes most of the hits with some physical comedy and more outlandish banana hammocks.

5 – Balderdash – I will admit again, I am not sure how an orgy among friends happens. The characters in this movie seem a bit too depressed and sad to make this feel like something that they would do.

---

The Conclusion

---

So, while the movie checks a lot of the five bees boxes, it feels more like a sad drama about rich people than it does anything else. Especially when it comes to sex comedies. If you are wanting to watch this for the sex, or even for a good comedy, you might be better off watching something else.