Very early '80's and very politically incorrect, LET'S DO IT! has a really terrific and timely premise: the poor hero is so concerned about making sure he pleases his girlfriend sexually, he can't perform at all, much to her constant annoyance. His attempts to work out his problems elsewhere with other women turn out no better, because, well shucks, he likes these other girls too and doesn't want to let them down either. Forget about the old saw that nice guys finish last, he can't even get started! There's lots of genuinely funny moments in here, almost all involving the hero's botched encounters and the extremely accommodating women who put up with him, as well as his girlfriend's increasingly surreal bedroom fantasies as she waits for him to settle his hash. This is one of those glorious fantasy worlds where all hookers are pretty, affluent, and will even fix you coffee and dinner while they casually talk of their checkered pasts, ridiculous but rather sweet compared to the snarky oversexualized Maxim mercenarianism of modern low-budget sex comedies.
The problem here is that multitasker Bert I. Gordon, much more suited to giant monster romps like EMPIRE OF THE ANTS and FOOD OF THE GODS, lets the pace drag and the laughs become distant memories, while not providing any interesting characters or developing them, something that the filmmakers behind THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and the American PIE films figured out to their success. I am reminded of apocryphal stories of how writers on "YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS" would submit sketches to Sid Caesar, and in turn he would go to their office with the script, lift up their desks and slam them down, bellowing "FUNNIER!" Gordon clearly could have used another punch-up on this otherwise solid material.
If every piece of '80's nostalgia has to get remade, this is something that should get optioned and redone the right way.
The problem here is that multitasker Bert I. Gordon, much more suited to giant monster romps like EMPIRE OF THE ANTS and FOOD OF THE GODS, lets the pace drag and the laughs become distant memories, while not providing any interesting characters or developing them, something that the filmmakers behind THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN and the American PIE films figured out to their success. I am reminded of apocryphal stories of how writers on "YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS" would submit sketches to Sid Caesar, and in turn he would go to their office with the script, lift up their desks and slam them down, bellowing "FUNNIER!" Gordon clearly could have used another punch-up on this otherwise solid material.
If every piece of '80's nostalgia has to get remade, this is something that should get optioned and redone the right way.