9 Great Movies Where the Guy Doesn't Get the Girl

7. The Last American Virgin (1982)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5dckzLcDE This 1982 American remake of 1978 Israeli film Eskimo Limon is criminally underrated, for what begins as a fairly routine teen sex comedy not unlike Porky's transforms into something dark and unexpectedly honest as it rolls towards its finale. The protagonist is Gary (Lawrence Monoson), a high school student who spends his days with buddies Rick (Steve Antin) and David (Joe Rubbo) chasing tail and goofing off. While his two friends frequently have success with women, Gary never gets any luck, and is just about reaching the end of his tether, when a gorgeous transfer student, Karen (Diane Franklin) catches his eye. However, she also catches the attention of Rick who, a serial womaniser, aims to deflower her upon hearing that she is a virgin. Karen is drawn in by Rick's charming exterior, and the two have sex once, which results in her pregnancy, with Rick promptly high-tailing it, insisting that she simply get rid of it and stop bothering him. Gary, being a stand-up guy and madly in love with Karen, decides to sell his possessions and borrow money to help Karen pay for an abortion, and as she rests up, the two spend a weekend alone in which they clearly seem to bond. Gary professes his feelings for Karen, and she seems to return in kind. She invites him to her birthday party the next week, and nothing can prepare Gary, or indeed the viewer, for the gut-punch that awaits him. Brutal isn't even the word. Gary has bought Karen a locket and seems intent on making his ultimate "play" for her, so he runs to the kitchen to find her, to see her making out with Rick. A distraught Gary finally catches Karen's eye, who is speechless, and can do nothing except rest her head comfortably on Rick's shoulder, only compounding Gary's heartbreak at seeing her return to a man who treated her so badly. Enraged and devastated, Gary leaves the party and drives off into the night, with the credits rolling over Gary's tearful face. Though the majority of the film is a harmless sex farce, The Last American Virgin gets so much credit for its extremely ballsy and realistic ending; so brutal is it that viewers might even find themselves laughing - as a defence mechanism - at how shockingly it betrayed the conventions of the genre. There is no catharsis or hope at the end; only tears, sad music, and a prompt credit roll. Brilliant.