“This is where my uber weekend of movies actually started. I ran straight from work (with a pit stop for a portable dinner) to the Common for a double. Just the kind of irreverent comedy that’s perfect for kicking off a summer weekend. Cameron Diaz may not have the best movie track record, but Jason Segel is still pretty reliable.
Feelings are kinda mixed on this one. I did get caught up and enjoyed it for the most part. I appreciate the honesty of it in that it was very upfront about uncomfortable situations. Taboos were attacked head on, giving a very relatable quality even for someone who has not found themselves remotely close to this situation (thank God). However, the way that a lot of the story advanced was ridiculously awkward. And not awkward because of the subject matter, but awkward because of how things played out.
I can buy the logic for how the tape got distributed (video was uploaded to a cloud that synched with all devices, many of which had been given away as gifts), or at least suspend disbelief jsut enough to go with it. I can even get behind the initial instinct of wanting to get back all the devices with the tape instead of trying to find a more discrete technological solution. Maybe they just weren’t thinking clearly or something. Besides, without that, we wouldn’t have had a movie. I can even buy the really contrived way that Diaz’s potentially future boss may have ended up with it. Where it lost me was the absolute awkward way they went about getting their devices back. Instead of making up some excuse to get it back (“”oh I forgot I had some important info on there””), they put together an elaborate but thin ruse to get into the house and search for it, basically replaying a classic Father of the Bride scene. Sorry, but my logical brain just doesn’t accept that was the best they could think of.
There was some more awkward in the structure that often overshadowed the comedy. But there were good moments as well. I’ve stated before that it’s the unexpected humor that makes me laugh most. The clever one liners, the I-can’t-believe-they-went-there offensive humor, and this premise lent itself to that a lot. There was also incredible chemistry with the cast that furthered that. Sure, Jason Segel was playing yet another Jason Segel character, but we love him and allow him to continue to do what he’s good at. I was actually kinda impressed with Cameron. She tries too hard to play sexy nowadays, so I’d forgotten that she can be funny. She’s much more in her element here, which in turn comes across as more sexy than when she’s actually trying to be seductive (*cough**cough*Counselor*car*sex*cough**cough*). Thinking back thru her filmography, it’s kinda true. Her best and most memorable roles were always in the funnier movies. Case in point: There’s Something About Mary or The Mask.
The whole thing was definitely far from perfect, but I left the theater with a smile and the general uplifting feeling you want from a comedy. So it couldn’t have been all bad.
Sex Tape – \m/ \m/ \m/