When Jay and Annie, played by Jason Segal and Cameron Diaz respectfully, first met, they had incredible passion, and sex was a main part of their life. They did it as much as they could, as often as possible and wherever they could have, but after 10 years of marriage and 2 kids, the passion is a bit wanting. So they did what any other normal American would do, they make a sex tape that gets uploaded to "the cloud" for all their friends to see. What follows is a married couple's attempt to find their sex drive and save face for their family.
The movie was hilarious. It was on Forgetting Sarah Marshall level. Jason Segal has come into his own as a comedy writer and actor and has succesfully brought back the romantic-comedy genre. This is a funny date movie to go see. Cameron Diaz still looks as good as she did in There's Something About Mary and still delivers punchlines with the best of them. She and Segal have great chemistry together in the film. There was also a lot of butt shots, and you get to see both Diaz and Segal from behind, quite a bit actually (so take that as a positive/negative or however you want to). One of the funniest scenes does involve Rob Lowe who, in any other comedy as of late, could have stolen the show from Segal and Diaz. That could be related to the fact that he tended to blend a bit of his character from Parks and Recreation in this performance, but the circumstances surrounding the scene kept me laughing. Rob Corrdry and Ellie Kemper, who play the best friends, were a very funny support group that added funny bits here and there. The acting in the film is solid. They all have great chemistry and when you are watching a movie you want to believe that this is real. Even when we know it's not. (Note: There is a very funny cameo that I will leave a surprise, but it is towards the end and worth the secrecy). The actual premise of the Sex Tape is quite brilliant actually and in a Hangover-esque moment you see bits and pieces of the sex tape at the end.
Now for the few things that didn't work, and literally there are only 3 things that could have made this movie an A. The first was the time length, while at a solid hour and a half, feft like they could have trimmed a few minutes off here and there "“ nothing drastic but tightening a few scenes up a bit would have helped. Second, more Nat Faxon. The guy is hilarious and just has great comedic timing. I'm sure that there were reasons for only having him in there for just one scene, but it felt that he could have been used somewhere down the line. And lastly, the language. The writing and dialogue was sharp. It really was. It actually should be considered in my section of "what works", but the cursing seems to have gone a bit over board. It wasn't like they were using disgusting words, but as someone who does drop the "f-bomb" with friends, this was a bit excessive in the genre that we are dealing with. It just seemed that as good and witty as the dialogue was in this film they used the f-bomb as a crutch and it hurts the film just a bit. Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they should have removed to completely but maybe a little toning down.
That being said, at the end of the day, it is a very funny film. My cheeks were hurting after the film from laughing/smiling the entire time. It takes a very honest approach to marriage, sex, love and just being a parent in general. People always joke that once you get married the sex goes to and you wonder "why?" and the movie shows why. You get busy. You have work, kids, errands, kids, the kid's school and sports (see where I'm going with that one). And Annie (Cameron Diaz) is honest with that. Don't go see this alone; go see this with someone. A friend who has the same gutter mind as you, a significant other that likes to laugh at raunchy material, but do NOT take your parents to see this film. You can recommend the movie to them, but just way to make awkward moments would arise. So go this weekend and laugh. It's worth it.
