Sex
Tape
(2014/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C
Jake
Kasdan's Sex
Tape
(2014) is a comedy with a decent premise but a story that doesn't
quite lend itself enough weight to really pass as a successful
comedy. Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal play their usual selves in the
movie with an interesting cameo by Jack Black in the third act but
all in all the film wraps up with little lessons to be learned and a
thematic that isn't necessarily powerful. The film reminds me a lot
of Date
Night
with Tina Fey that came out a few years ago in that it has a decent
premise but loses steam halfway through and feels too long overall
even though it isn't.
Jay
(Jason Segal) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) are a couple who have sex at
every chance they can get. After having two children, they have
fewer opportunities to have sex. While the children are away one
night, they try to reignite their sex life. After Jay struggles to
get an erection, Annie suggests making a sex tape with his newly
purchased iPad. They film themselves having sex in every position
listed in the classic book The
Joy of Sex.
After Annie asks Jay to delete the tape, he ends up instead
inadvertently synchronizing the video to several iPads the couple had
given away over time as gifts to friends, family, and even the
Mailman. After failing to get it out of the cloud, and being
blackmailed by a pesky relative, they set out to get back all of the
gifted iPads, leading to a series of awkward encounters and close
calls.
One
of the weirdest moments in the film that I thought should've been
handled differently was the character that Rob Lowe portrays which is
Annie's perspective Boss of a major blogging company that she applies
for a job too. Once she realizes that she gave him her iPad to view
your project proposal on, they attempt to break in to his luxurious
house only to find that she is a carnal rich guy with a cocaine
addiction. Annie distracts him while Jay searches the house for the
stolen iPad and comes across a mean dog that attacks him (which is a
tired concept in comedies to begin with). It seems like the Director
and Writers never quite knew what to do with the character as he is
creepy and offbeat but at the same time doesn't have a motive and
whose presence doesn't really raise the stakes of the situation.
These scenes are awkward, long, and boring and take a lot of life out
of the film in the second act.
The
ending is a bit of a downer too where everything is neatly resolved
and an obvious plot point is established. All in all, the film is
just okay and will probably be dated sooner rather than later.
However, Cameron Diaz wearing a tight white shirt and roller skates
will never be dated.
Sound
and Picture on the disc are fine with Sony doing a tremendous job as
usual - the film is presented in 1080p high definition with a 1.85:1
aspect ratio and a 5.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless track in
Spanish, French, and English. There's also a 5.1 Dolby Digital
English Descriptive Audio Track and Subtitles in English, English
SDH, French, and Spanish.
Extras
on the disc include Bloopers, Deleted and Extended Scenes,
Line-O-Rama, and Romance Reboot with Dr. Jenn Berman.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
