09/09/06 Sex Is Comedy

Sex Is Comedy (2002), directed by Catherine Breillat

watched w/ Leslie; VHS (personal copy) @ home

OK, so this movie is listed as a personal copy only because we went video hunting in the past and came across some bargain bin deals on buying some old VHS tapes. This one stood out as something so obviously titillating by the titular title, that either way we would be amused (by either the sex or the comedy, silly!). Well, let me be the first to tell you...nay, warn you, that this film contains neither of the aforementioned and appealing traits. Yes, false advertising at its most heinous...luring us unsuspecting video store fans into a world of lies, deceit, and sexual teasing. Oh those cunning French...who knows, maybe they found it interesting or artistic or sexy or blah...I just threw up a little in my mouth. This movie was so dumb, very boring, and no fun to try and stay awake through when I fully expected to be either laughing or horny halfway through. Alas, we had been duped into watching a crappy dramedy with no way out of the insular world of filmmaking. Yes, the plot revolves around three main characters, and their sexual inadequacies/insecurities. Jeanne plays a director struggling with her two main actors (named in the film only as The Actor and The Actress...I can only believe that their agents told them this would be best for pleading innocent later) to perform an intensely sexual scene, when both in reality cannot stand the sight of each other. Taking place completely on a sound stage during the virtual filming of this actual film, the actors are lead into exercises in futility to try and bring forth a chemistry between them to come across as genuine on screen. Maybe this film was trying to point out this in today's filmmaking, how people are forced into intimate positions with complete strangers simply for our entertainment, complete with sexual/power struggles, gender roles, and mind manipulation. But seriously, if they were going to go that lengths of trouble to prove a point...at least finish the point, or keep us entertained by using your powers to mind manipulate us...something! Anything but dopey French actors moping around trying to be profound, when you're really pretentious with a prosthetic penis on. Say that five times fast.

1 out of 5 stars