“Lemon Popsicle” is often considered to be the world’s first teen sex comedy, making it a precursor to films such as “Porky’s” and “American Pie”. It’s also considered to be one of Israel’s most successful films and they even made a whopping eight sequels to it. It’s reminded me a lot of “American Graffiti” but with added nudity.

“Lemon Popsicle” follows Benzi (Yftach Katzur), Momo and Yudale, three friends living in 1950s Tel Aviv. They have their sights set on getting the girls but when two of them fall for the same girl, trouble follows. It seems predictable by today’s standards but I guess it was more revolutionary back in the day.

The main characters in this film are fairly likeable. You certainly feel for Benzi, who tries his best to win the girl of his dreams. A lot of the time the characters are stood around or dancing to the music on the jukebox. It’s almost like the real star of the movie is the music and there are lot of quintessential 50s songs in here so do not be surprised if the characters are not especially captivating. We see a fair amount of nudity in this film, particularly in the scene that feature a promiscuous housewife and also in the scene involving a prostitute so expect to see quite a bit of the cast members.

Although I get that this film provided the sex comedy formula, I still cannot believe how many sequels they made. It’s a mildly entertaining film but I do not think that I could really recommend it. If you want the late-50s and early-60s style, I think “American Graffiti” did it better and if you want a better risqué comedy then I think “Animal House” and “Caddyshack” are funnier. If you are desperate to see foreign films then here is supposedly one of Israel’s best offerings.