Sex Tape
A married couple wake up to discover that the sex tape they made the evening before has gone missing, leading to a frantic search for its whereabouts.
Cast
Cameron Diaz – Annie
Jason Segel – Jay
Rob Corddry – Robbie
Ellie Kemper – Tess
Nat Faxon – Max
Rob Lowe – Hank
Nancy Lenehan – Linda
Cameron Diazzles
I’ve never thought of Cameron to be a comedic actress. At all. I see her on posters, blonde and pouty and think, “sultry model type”. As I exited the cinema after seeing Sex Tape my immediate thought was, “fucking hilarious woman”. Seriously. Cameron Diaz steps up a gear and delivers a high-energy perfomance all the way through, completely outdoing Segel and not just stealing his thunder – but his entire fucking weather pattern. The man was nothing compared to his co-star.
Cameron’s comedic timing and witty antics were faultless. Scenes such as the ‘cocaine snort’ were SOL material (snort-out-loud), where I found myself enjoying every second of her screen time. Her facial expressions are bloody hilarious, had me laughing out loud frequently – along with a killer stare which adds to the physical comedy she displays. I found myself revelling in Cameron’s on-screen presence, lapping up her scatty scenes which mostly involved her running around in a flappy panic – before slowing down and melting back into her trademark sultry, sexy style.
She isn’t just pouty with model looks, this woman carries a natural flair for comedy too. Versatilty is her nichè.
Well done, Cameron.
Silly
Let’s face it – a movie about a suburban couple trying desperately to reclaim a saucy video they made together is going to be bursting with silliness.
..only problem is, some gags were so silly, they evoked a reaction of complete silence from the audience. A prime example is when Jay (Segel) coughs up the phrase, “my dick can see the future. That’s why they call it Nostracockus”.
Silence in the auditorium.
I don’t want to pin all the unfunny crap solely on Segel, but moments like this continued.
At the beginning of the movie, a scene which heard the couple fondling under a duvet, heard a loud tut from me – because what should rise up underneath the duvet was possibly the tackiest ‘obvious erection’ I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was just stupid – not even a good stupid – like laying under your blanket (both arms underneath) and lifting your fist slowly to imitate a growing erection. It was pathetic penis puppetry, just awful.
Overall, Jason was a bit – well – shit. Pulling gags that had no effect on the audience and bumbling his way through the movie as if knowing he had major competition in the form of Diaz. I actually couldn’t believe how much weight the actor has lost. Although he does look rather gaunt around the chops, Jason has slimmed down nicely. Good on him.
Bar Talk
One of my main observations of Sex Tape is that its story / plot is something that could be summed up in a 5-6 minute chat as you’re sat in a bar with friends. And without sounding like the ‘party pooper’, the movie was rather pointless overall – and could have been nicely condensed down into a few minute giggle amongst friends whilst sitting in the pub. It’s that kind of witty tale.
On the plus side, the movie is watchable. One of those features you can kick back, relax and let wash over you. I began to glaze over halfway through, as I pondered what I was having for dinner when I got home – there you are, right there. That’s the kind of movie it is. Easy to digest, easy to switch off, yet super-easy to drift back to without losing any of the main story. It’s an easy watch, so if you’re a fan of ‘not-too-serious’, you should enjoy the film.
Calm Down
The chase to erase is the crucial ingredient of this movie, obviously. A couple who create a personal, private video which is leaked to the public would probably be thrown into sheer panic mode. I couldn’t imagine it. That said, it got on my nerves how these two skimmed straight past panic and slid dangerously into hysteria. During some scenes, I wondered if the director would add the special effect of steam clouds shooting from Jason’s ears, due to the highly intense facial expressions and hysterical body language being performed.
This couple don’t just panic – they explode. Running around like headless chickens whilst screaming and swearing at each other, red faced and wide-eyed.
“just.. get over it” I thought at one point. Pass it off as a one-time human error and move on! Yes it’s embarrassing, but Christ – as long as you’re both happy with your bodies, what’s the issue? There is the obviously difficult situation of Annie’s boss unknowingly getting hold of a copy, which yes, should be retrieved ASAP due to her career, but otherwise – no one else (apart from the few who get hold of the tape) is going to see the video unless they log on to YouPorn and search for it. (YouPorn makes a brief appearance during the movie, when the panicked couple break into its headquarters to try and wipe its entire database – with unfortunate and bizarre consequences..)
Overall, the panic to the point of hysteria irritated me. One of those, “would you ACTUALLY be like that?… no” elements which had me continuously thinking, “calm the fuck down”. But in movie terms, I suppose it added juicily to the slapstick farce that was unfolding on screen. And Cameron’s brilliantly funny facial expressions might not have been put to as good use as they were. I’m half and half on this element.
Sex Tape was very watchable. A movie perfect for a Friday evening where I could sit back, relax and not have to concentrate much after a long week at work.
Cameron Diaz has chucked her dice and jumped hundreds of spaces ahead on the movie board for me; the woman is funny. And I don’t mean a few giggles here and there – I mean FUCKING FUNNY. Effective facial expressions and high-pitched screaming are ingredients her comedy couldn’t do without – just her mouth hanging open slightly with bulging eyes had me howling with laughter. Cameron carries this movie, Jason doesn’t even come close, however effective his performance was.
A nicely formed supporting cast ensures this movie moves forward at a good pace, and make sure you stick around at the end or you’ll miss the contents of Annie and Jay’s sex tape during the credits. I can honestly say Cameron had me hooting out loud.
Oh, and keep your eyes peeled during this movie for some ‘Black’ comedy as a very unexpected cameo appears who I never expected…
Watchable, witty, average.
Ricky's Film Reviews 