Film Review: Sex Tape

Jake Kasdan’s Sex Tape has the promise of a raucous comedy. Unfortunately it does not quite deliver in the humour stakes.

Having been married for several years and with two children, Annie and Jay have little time for intimacy. The couple decide to make a sex tape, only to discover the video isn’t as private as they thought…

It is clear what the filmmakers are trying to do with Sex Tape. Rather than an out-and-out raunchy comedy, writers Kate Angelo, Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel try to inject more feeling into the narrative, with the central theme of the trials of marriage apparent from the very beginning of the movie.

However, Sex Tape fails simply for its lack of genuine laughs. Without these, the film flails as a romance; not quite edgy enough to compensate for the overt sentiment. The script lunges between crudeness and this rather twee sentiment. The balance would have been more successful had there been belly laughs.

Director Jake Kasdan reunites with Jason Segel and Cameron Diaz after the success of Bad Teacher. A similar style of humour tries to be replicated in Sex Tape, but it is not as effective this time round. The funniest sequence raises a few laughs, but this comes at a mid point in the film. Elsewhere, the movie feels padded out with additional strands to compensate for a flimsy central plot.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel have good chemistry in Sex Tape. Segel is looking gaunt, which can be distracting at first. It is Rob Lowe who is responsible for the film’s most memorable part. The actor is becoming something of a scene-stealer in his recent film roles.

Sex Tape is in the unusual position of being not funny enough for a rambunctious comedy, and being too lewd for a romance. Although the film is rarely dull, it is not memorable either.

Film Review: Bad Teacher

Cameron Diaz is on top form in entertaining comedy Bad Teacher. It is definitely one of the better recent adverts for females taking on central comedic roles, proving that women can hold their own and should not be confined to cheesy, predictable rom-coms. Unless they are Jennifer Aniston.

Elizabeth Halsey is foul-mouthed, unprofessional teacher, concerned only with finding a rich man to marry. When her fiancé dumps her, Elizabeth is forced to go back to her old job. She sets her sights on rich new teacher Scott Delacorte, but her behaviour attracts the attention of the successful colleague Amy Squirrel…

Given the premise, Bad Teacher could have gone down a similar path to School of Rock. Thankfully, Jake Kasdan’s film eschew this option, choosing to focus on a character that does not want to redeem herself or help others. The aim of Bad Teacher is to generate laughs; other aspects are secondary to this.

What works so well in Bad Teacher is the frequency of the humour. Comedy in the film balances carefully between being accessible and being raucous. Jokes are not too close to the bone as to offend anyone but the most sensitive of souls, yet humour is often garnered from shocking or surprising comments.

As such, Bad Teacher exudes an admirable attitude. It is not offensive for shock value; the humour more often than not is better than this. Rather, the crassness is present simply because it is genuinely funny, immature as this may be. Although there is a romantic angle, this never overshadows the humour. Plenty of comedies feature more serious or poignant scenes, which can become overly sentimental if not executed well. Writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg avoid this trap in Bad Teacher. Any moments of realisation or emotion are handled with the lightest touch; there are no heavy-handed scenes where the protagonist realises the error of her ways. The film is all the better because of this.

Cameron Diaz is great as Elizabeth. The actress clearly seems to be having a lot of fun with the role, and the style of comedy suits Diaz very well. She gets fantastic support from most of the cast. Lucy Punch is fantastic as Amy, while Jason Segel is wisely cast as gym teacher Russell. Segel’s role is fairly minor but provides sufficient humour. Justin Timberlake is a lot of fun as Scott, and is given some great lines.

Bad Teacher is not the greatest comedy ever made. It is, however, great fun and a lot better than many of the other comedies released this year.