Review of Sex Tape (2014) by Jesse O — 23 Oct 2014

One of my favourite comedies from the past few years is Bad Teacher, an outrageously hilarious movie directed by Jake Kasdan. Starring Cameron Diaz at her meanest and Jason Segel bringing his charm to the screen, both backed by an outstanding supporting cast, to this day Bad Teacher has me laughing lewdly thanks to its quirky characters and crude gags that work so well. When I first heard about Sex Tape, my attention was drawn to the fact Jake Kasdan was handling directing duties, and stars Diaz and Segel taking the lead. I thought this was going to be gold. I was wrong.

Jay and Annie are a spirited young couple with a highly active sex life and a strong connection, both enjoying each others company. Skip ahead a few years, two kids and a marriage later their spark has died down as well as the shenanigans. To light the fuse a little the couple decide to film themselves having a three-hour sex marathon. The hitch: The video leaks into the cloud across multiple iPads each in possession of family and friends. Now Jay and Annie must prevent any embarrassment and get them iPads back. Decent premise notwithstanding, Sex Tape does the complete opposite of its titles nature: It doesn't do anything daring. Instead this is a tame and ultimately dry comedy that strands its talented stars in a ironically flaccid sex-romp com.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel are totally game for anything here, it's clear from the get-go, but the writing and direction severely dampen their efforts. Strong supporting stars Rob Lowe, Ellie Kemper, Rob Corddry and Annie Mumolo are wasted, in some ways they ground the movie away from the crudeness but it's a shame they weren't given better parts. There are practically zero one liners, most comedies nowadays have zingers left, right and centre, ones the audience find themselves repeating days after but Sex Tape has none, except in the trailer which is where my next criticism comes. In the trailer, there's a fantastically delivered line from Diaz right after Segel tells her the tape has gone up, "You know the cloud?", Diaz replies with a superbly shouted "FUCK!". This priceless line was cut from the version I watched, and I was looking forward to that.

Despite that line being cut, there are barely any funny scenes or jokes here, so one good line couldn't have brought Sex Tape into my good books. The sex montages aren't entertaining, and even though they are overlaid by the same upbeat soundtrack that graced Bad Teacher, director Jake Kasdan single-handedly sucks any fun out of this movie. Basic cinematography, no tone, an absence of atmosphere or music for the most part this is a very empty film, with attempts at slapstick that fall flat on its face. Avoid this film, unless you're prepared to sit gormless waiting to laugh that'll never come.