Director: Jake Kasdan.
Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe.
Certificate: 15.
Running Time: 94 minutes.
Synopsis: A couple hoping to reignite their sex lives decide to make a sex tape. Unfortunately the tape is accidentally uploaded to The Cloud and syncs with a set of iPads the couple handed out at Christmas. They soons find themselves attempting to retrieve the iPads and delete the video.
Despite the lurid sadness of recent events involving private material and The Cloud, there must be at least one person wringing their hands with delight over at Sony. Suddenly it’s made their film ‘of the moment’ with its finger on the pulse of the current climate surrounding privacy and the internet. That’s just a stroke of luck though, as this film is essentially an idea with nowhere to go. The idea of a personal moment being captured and made available for all to see is something that could be played seriously or for laughs, but no matter which route is taken, you’d assume we’d have to care for the characters to at least in what’s on screen.
Segel and Diaz play a married couple wishing to reinvigorate their sex lives. The two share chemistry which has certainly carried over from BAD TEACHER, but that’s all we get. Their actions are inexcusably moronic given the situation they find themselves in, and it feels as though the script is working its way backwards, where the characters attempt the preposterous last resort options first. Given that the characters are portrayed as smart professionals it simply comes down to lazy writing in an attempt at generating comedy.
The narrative itself feels very disjointed, as though the writers attempted to take the film in an unpredictable direction, but stalled when it came time to figure new ideas. The idea of tracking down each iPad is soon dropped for a completely different plot altogether. It could be argued that the film was trying to avoid an episodic structure, but it still feels like a series of set-pieces in which the writers try to out-stupid one another.
There’s no real memorable comedic moment outside of Rob Lowe’s surreal performance. He grabs hold of the nonsense aspect of the film and refuses to let go, but even his jokes are worn into the ground. He’s a man who has himself painted into famous Disney scenes and plays inappropriate music when guests are round. It’s funny the first and second time, but soon outstays its welcome.
Worst of all, the film attempts to have some heart, and finds it in the proprietor of a porn website. Obviously this play on preconceptions is meant to be funny, but the script also makes the mistake of making assumptions as to why people make sex tapes in the first place. Trying to give the film a message in the end is completely unnecessary and misguided to boot. When a film touches on something that could be so real, it would derive more comedy from keeping its feet on the ground, rather than relying on idiotic decisions and slapstick.
With home recording devices and upload sites making it possible for anyone to make a porno, SEX TAPE demonstrates that almost anybody can make a dumb Hollywood comedy. There’s nothing to truly hate here, it’s just disappointing. When your Apple product placement means the only way to propel the plot is to have people buy multiple iPads to give away to friends, and for characters to have iPads, iMacs, and iPhones in the same shot, you realise this was never meant to be a film, just a sad, unfunny advert.
[usr=1]SEX TAPE is in cinemas from 3rd September
