SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPES (director/writer/editor: Steven Soderbergh; cinematographer: Walt Lloyd; cast: James Spader (Graham), Andie MacDowell (Ann), Peter Gallagher (John), Laura San Giacomo (Cynthia), Ron Vawter (Ann's Therapist), Steven Brill (Barfly); Runtime: 100; 1989)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
This debut indie film for director Steven Soderbergh is a stimulating but perverse psychological drama. It is set in Baton Rouge, La., and tells the story about four lost souls aged thirtysomething whose problem lies chiefly in their sex lives. The film is invasive sexually, but not in an explicit way, as there is no nudity and the film eschews sensationalism for an honest verbal character study. It is more interested in telling about the gulf between what is felt and what is perceived, as the main characters try to articulate what is at the root of their problems. At the Cannes film festival, this low budget film, made for about $1.2 million, deservedly won La Palme D'Or for best film and the best actor award for James Spader.
Ann (MacDowell) is seeing a therapist about her repression problem. She mentions to the therapist that, as of late, she stopped having sex with her successful lawyer husband John (Gallagher), saying she thinks sex is overrated. She further says that she feels repulsed when he touches her. Her immediate concern is that he invited a college friend over, Graham (Spader), whom he hasn't seen for the last 9 years, and she doesn't feel she is up to having a visitor at the present time.
Graham appears as a changed person to John, having affected a casual dress code, mysteriously wandering around the country for the last 9 years without a job while living in his car to stay mobile, not seeing a woman, and he has no ambition to succeed. What he does is videotape women who talk intimately to him about their sexual experiences, and he watches them later on in his privacy, getting sexually off on what they say. He also mentions to Ann that he is impotent.
John is a longtime philanderer, currently having a torrid sexual affair with Ann's extroverted sister Cynthia (Laura), who works as a bartender. She has a strained relationship with her sister, thinking of her disrespectfully as too good to be true and too uptight about life for her to feel comfortable talking to.
Ann is at first repulsed by how strange Graham is, but his words excite her, as they both have severe sexual problems to overcome and can't relate to others as easily as they do to each other. She also finds out, to her utter dismay, that John is having an affair with her sister and that he has lied to her about it, which she considers even worse than the affair.
No character is as pure as driven snow or without their psychological hang-ups, but through confronting themselves when forced to listen to the tapes or the lies they get caught in, they view themselves as having lost sight of what is important and try to decide on how to take responsibility for their actions.
This is much more than a voyeuristic film, as everything becomes personal. It stresses the morality needed to live a normal life and ends by trying to make sense of what is going to happen to them after they confront how they lied to others and themselves.
The script is intelligent; the acting is superb; and, the director has elicited spontaneous and natural performances, weaving it into a film where having a conversation about masturbation is as natural as talking about the weather. This is a film where sex is always kept as an intriguing mystery and a part of the story that adds spice to the wry humor of the events. When the intense Spader videotapes Cynthia, she is completely open about her life and it disturbs her that she can communicate with a stranger but not with her lover. When Spader videotapes Ann, she turns the tables and puts him on camera, and the dynamics between the two becomes emotionally charged, bringing them as close to a satisfying climax as they have ever had. She realizes how empty her marriage is when asked by Graham on videotape: What do you like about your marriage? And the trophy wife, can only respond, "I like the stability and John's promotion."All the sexual ambiguity they both have for each other changes into a real liking they have for each other and an acceptance of how they are damaged goods but have the possibilty of changing for the better. The clever story becomes very emotionally satisfying, even if it ties things up a little too neatly.
REVIEWED ON 9/9/2000 GRADE: A-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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