Sex Tape: What Goes Into the Cloud, Stays in the Cloud

Hello everybody! Today we have the not so raunchy sex comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel called Sex Tape.

SEX TAPE

STARRING: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe

DIRECTOR: Jake Kasdan

GENRE: Comedy

YEAR: 2014

COUNTRY: United States

When Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) first got together, their romantic connection was intense – but ten years and two kids later, the flame of their love needs a spark. To kick things up a notch, they decide – why not? – to make a video of themselves trying out every position in The Joy of Sex in one marathon three-hour session. It seems like a great idea – until they discover that their most private video is no longer private. With their reputations on the line, they know they’re just one click away from being laid bare to the world… but as their race to reclaim their video leads to a night they’ll never forget, they’ll find that their video will expose even more than they bargained for.

Sex Tape, another Apatowian comedy, treads the same familiar territory as some of its predecessors, but attempts to pull the action kicking and screaming up into the cloud. Much the same can be said about the movie’s treatment of amateur pornography. Kasdan doesn’t seem close to penning a philosophical treatise on the merits and failings of sex-tape empowerment, for instance, but he did reach out to YouPorn to better understand how internet porn works. Wild sex tapes, Kasdan found, are now simply an everyday reality. One of Sex Tape’s finest moments is when it finally concedes that, whatever other failings they may have, its stars actually know what the cloud is

As cliché-ridden as that conceit sounds at the outset, the film is a bit smarter than to just go through the motions before arriving at its conclusion. It’s even fun at times. But given everything we’ve learned about online sex, the dissolution of privacy, and techno-voyeurism in the last several years, it’s a shame it only takes half steps toward being anything more than what came before, with a few sprinkles of tech-savvy thrown in.

However, what’s frustrating about Sex Tape is its tendency to fall back on safe, broad jokes as opposed to digging into the meatier issues it plays with. It’s the parts that don’t feel completely thought out that ultimately undo it. While the movie does tease at the notion that sex tapes might be altogether commonplace, it’s much happier to throw Jason Segel and a dog out a window for a laugh.

PROS:

• Fun at times.
• Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel performances.
• Cameo!

CONS:

• Cliche-ridden.
• Stereotypical Apatowian comedy.
• Old story with new paint.
• Not as raunchy as it should have been.

SCORE: 5.5 / 10

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