Sex, Lies, and Videotapes (1989)

As I write this review and look at the film's poster for the first time I'm very curious as to why they'd call it a comedy. I laughed a few times, sure. Though I mostly took this film very seriously. Possibly it's because of how taboo sex was in my household growing up and watching a film almost entirely about sex feels somewhat weighty. Probably though, it's because this intelligent film can't be labeled to one specific genre (unless sex were a genre). It manages to be erotic and thought-provoking with it's unique exploration of sex without needing to be overly physical. Gram (James Spader) tells Anne that he's impotent. Anne is the wife of Gram's old friend John. Anne doesn't have much of a sex life since John is secretly sleeping with her sister Cynthia. Anne tells her therapist that sex isn't of much interest to her. So in this moment with Anne and Gram,  we sense a fantasy seeding itself in Anne's mind, where she can help Gram. She wants to fix him. Its in this sexual battleground that our film exists. I personally found the entire experience to be as entertaining as it is provocative. I became transfixed in it's edginess anxiously awaiting each next scene to the point where I forgot I was watching a movie. The actors and unassuming camera-work blending into some distant memory I once had. It's exactly the type of film I can't wait to revisit.

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