SEX TAPE
US, 2014, 94 minutes, Colour.
Cameron Diaz, Jason Segal, Rob Corrdrey.
Directed by Jake Kasdan.
Well, at least, the title is not trying to hide the theme of the film. On the other hand, this is a Hollywood comedy so it is not going to be too outrageous. And for those buying a ticket in anticipation of what the title might lead to, they will really have to wait till the end of the film to see the contents of the sex tape, and not too provocatively, really.
Before the credits, for about five minutes, the film starts to live up to its title: Annie (Cameron Diaz) is writing a blog, describing her meeting with Jay, their sexual experiences, then to love, then to marriage – and children - before the end of the credits! Jump a few years and they find they have practically no desire to make any sex tape, as busy as they are with their jobs and managing their children. In fact, they find they have practically no time for sexual activity.
Jay works for a radio company and works with music. We see Annie going to a meeting with a large company who promote toys and family products, charmed by her blog and what it could do for their image. The CEO of the company is played by Rob Lowe (whom diehard movie fans may remember had some sex tape problems of his own in the 1980s). He is a good sport and plays a variation on a leering Lothario.
One evening, they are unexpectedly free and send the children off to their grandmother. A lot of farcical attempts in the sex department, all proving failures. Then comes the brainwave to make a sex tape, three hours of their activity, culminating in Jay’s promise to delete. Plot-wise, of course he does not.
The rest of the film is not seeing the sex tape but rather the frantic efforts of Annie and Jay, along with their friends, Robby and Tesss who help them to recover it. It has gone out on a lot of iPads that Jay has given away as gifts. So, here we are in our modern cyberworld with unwelcome files spread far and wide, some knowing the technology to preserve them, others not knowing the technology to delete.
One of the search sequences involves Rob Lowe again with the two couples trying to spin stories of collecting for charity, Robbie and Tess having the brainwave to say that they are collecting used iPads for charity!
A consequence of this kind of tape is, of course, the possibility of blackmail, and that is what occurs as well, but there is a somewhat easy way out, as there is a crisis at the school social media performance when Jay realises the tape is on the hard drive of his son’s computer, just about to be displayed to the general public.
This may make the film sound very enjoyable and it has its moments. It is one of those entertainments that couples, indulging in a little prurience, might enjoy on a night out. Nothing more.
1. American sex comedy, American style? The touch of permissive, then ordinary, then moralising?
2. The total, expectations, old pornography tapes, Internet pornography, post-your-own sex-tape? IPads and distribution?
3. The pre-credits, the sexual relationship between Annie and Jay, the sexual impulse, leading to marriage, her parents’ concern, the wry comment about sexual activity during marriage, the birth of the children?
4. The years passing, the couple being busy, the children, always in a hurry, getting the children to school, the different jobs, chores around the house? Jay and his work with recordings? Annie and her blog, the writing of the blog – and the pre-credits sequence of her typing? Her interview with the foundation? Toys, the ideal mother, prospects? The meeting with Hank and the board?
5. Sex and the possibilities, impossibilities? The effect on the couple? Celebrating the offer to Annie? Her mother minding the children? The plan, seductive behaviour, clothing, the slapstick elements in the farcical situations? The decision about the eagerness, The Joy Of Sex? Annie asking Jay to erase the tape?
6. Jay not erasing it, his reasons, his pretexts, the texting, the mystery, the effect on them? getting back the iPads? Annie and her mother? Their going out, going to see Robert and Tess, the discussions, going to see Hank, pretending to collect money for charities, Jay and his diarrhoea? His being pursued around the house by the dog? Annie and the cocaine? Hank and his double standards? Robert and Tess at the door, collecting iPads? Going back to the car, Robert and Tess and their behaviour, confessing to watching the tape?
7. Going back home, Jay and his injuries, the shirt? Howard, the truth, demand for $25,000? The possibility of distance deletion?
8. Going to the manager of the website, breaking in, taking the children, the confrontation, the boss and his hold over them, his wife and her recognising Annie, liking the blog? The manager and his lecture on pornography, the number of tapes sent in, his moralising about difficulties in couple’s lives and the need for taping? Charging $15,000?
9. At home, the family night? Clive not allowed out with Howard? Howard’s arrival, his wanting a friend, prepared to give up the USB stick? Annie and Jay watching the tape, smashing it, burning it, burying it?
10. The graduation, Clive and his presenting the film, Jay forgetting to erase the video from the family computer, Jay and his falling and breaking the computer? Tess to the rescue?
11. The American formulaic structure: sex indulgence, then ordinariness, then moralising?
