08/17/2008
DVD:: 0 comments: by George Thompson
Little or no laughter.
There’s something missing in this movie: little or no laughter. This is hyped in the special features section as a black comedy about adult sex with a point. The point is: what man wouldn’t want to sleep with as many women as possible before he gets married? I guess I missed something because I didn’t laugh that much.
Sex and Death 101 stars Simon Baker (Roderick Blank) and Wynona Ryder (Death Nell). Mindy Cohn (Trixie) plays the role of secretary to Rod and her lines and acting are the only laughable parts in the entire 117 minute movie. She’s still looks and acts the same zany way as she did when she starred in the TV show The Facts of Life.
Rod is a successful business man who is a week away from marrying when he gets an email that lists all the women he has had sex with and all the women he will have sex with. He has no idea where the email came from because Trixie is reading his email to him while he’s out walking about town. He knows some of the women and tracks them down; the others meet him by chance. He has sex with 67 women; his fiancée dumps him because of his nonchalant attitude towards her. She doesn’t know about the list or that Rod has been having sex on the side.
Ryder doesn’t appear until the last third of the movie; she plays Death Nell quite seductively. She targets men who are guilty of sex crimes against women and injects them with a drug that kills them. No one has been able to locate her, but everyone is talking about her. Rod has a chance meeting with her and she weaves a web around him that he can’t shake.
Rated R with nudity, this film may never be seen on the small screen of TV. I don’t think the major networks would stand in line to buy the rights to play it. However, it might show up on a premium station. I consider the plot to be very thin because it’s not about a man “finding himself” or solving some major mystery. Rather it’s a way to show that guys have thoughts of having sex with lots of women and wonder how they can cope with such debauchery.
There is no big revelation, no “Wow, that was something!” I became bored around girl number five. Yet I watched the entire movie just to see what was going to happen. It was like watching a train wreck; you just can’t tear you’re gaze away. I was disappointed. Mindy Cohn as Trixie stole the show. Although not an Oscar-winning performance, she made this black comedy light and broke the mundane atmosphere that pervaded the entire movie.
I would really be hard pressed to recommend this CD to anyone. Without a meaty plot not even the music can save it. I found it tasteless and a mockery of a sex joke that has been stretched beyond limits. If you like this sort of comedy then buy the CD and see for yourself. If you’re wise you’ll pass it by and find something more interesting.