Review of The Opposite of Sex (1998) by Fascade F — 17 Aug 2008

The Opposite Of Sex is very, very different.

It presents us with a truly despicable main character - Christina Ricci plays Dede, a hilarious megabitch - and then deconstructs what it is that makes us like characters in the first place. She generally affects everyone's lives for the worse, but ultimately we like her. All without her "growing a heart of gold", a scenario we're told right from the start isn't going to happen by the film's rancidly sarcastic narrator, Dede. (The cliche says we shouldn't like narration, but done right it's superb. Other examples include Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Goodfellas and Trainspotting. See?).

The entire cast of characters, from likeable to detestable, are involving and superbly acted. (Well, perhaps not Karl, the deeply weird-looking policeman who pursues Lisa Kudrow's shrewish character.) It's a particularly sensitive turn from the bitter Lisa Kudrow, although Martin Donovan's calm good guy is also fascinating to watch.

I'd rather not go into the plot, since it's better (and more uncomfortably funny) to discover it as you go along. Ricci's narration keeps the whole thing sassy and self-aware, but never in an annoying way. Although the narration does drop away for a significant chunk of the film, which doesn't have Ricci in it. Her character's influence is as important as her actually being there, so it doesn't hurt the film. But Ricci, let's be clear, is astounding here.

It's a sharp and thoughtful film that's difficult to describe without giving too much away. Ultimately I was left wondering exactly what I was supposed to take away from it, but for once that feels like food for thought rather than a hole. This is a smart, profoundly bitchy black comedy, with an excellent main performance and everything else good enough to match it. Not to be missed, and not, hopefully, what you were expecting.