REVIEW — “Sex Tape”

Sex sells, but is this extended Ipad commercial worth paying for?

This movie is…odd.  Right from the opening credits when we realize that Sony has made a movie revolving around Apple products we can see this film will defy logic.  Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz team up again (previously in Bad Teacher) for another awkward relationship.  While they don’t have bad chemistry it definitely isn’t compelling.  The film opens with far too many “thoughtful blogging” shots of Cameron’s face as she writes about the current lack of sex in her marriage.  While she is very complimentary of their early sex life, you have to question the motivations of a married woman who’s letting the entire internet know that she isn’t getting laid as much as she wants.  Fast forward 30 minutes and they’ve created a 3 hour sex tape that was inadvertently passed on to innumerable Ipads and other Apple devices that they have given to their friends (and mailman!) as gifts.  Who are these people?!?

A big problem with the movie is the inconsistent morality.  It doesn’t seem to have a real target audience, and even though it’s supposed to be a sex comedy, it panders to all possible opinions.  (Therefore alienating virtually all potential audiences.)  Among the various perspectives provided during the film: A sex tape is a fun way to spice up a stale sex life, Everyone is a bit freaky in private so it’s oK, A sex tape is a horrible/gross idea, Only women who have serious relationship problems would be interested in making a sex tape, Cocaine can be fun and bring forth the honesty in a spouse!

The different scenes that make up the movie are a bit “clunky” too.  It feels like a number of scenes and payoffs were left on the cutting room floor.  Ad-libbing that is funny in the moment doesn’t segue well into the next scene.  The product placement is almost as blatant as in “Transformers.”  We are treated to classy lines like “The construction on these things is incredible!” and “The Camera is amazing!”

The bottom line of any comedy is if it’s funny.  Yes, this is funny, but only marginally.  You’ll spend most of the movie grinning, not laughing.  And once it kicks it up a notch about half way through, it is sadly unable to keep the momentum going.  Later in the film an awesome cameo quickly degrades into a rather impressive list of porn sites and then a cliche monologue of honestly as a lone piano plays tenderly on the soundtrack. (sigh)

The concept of the movie is fun, but everything else falls short.  One can imagine it being so much better if instead it was the third film featuring Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd’s married coupled (“Knocked Up”, “This is 40”)  and directed by Judd Apatow.  Considering how big Hollywood is on remakes, maybe there’s hope!

3 out of 5 Stars