Writer-director Steven Soderbergh takes that feeling of
intimacy and makes it one of the key assets of sex, lies, and videotape. This is a story about four fucked up,
broken people and their intertwining lives. We find these characters in minimal
locations, talking and continually hurting one another. As the story unfolds,
the film digs deeper and goes more personal.
When John (Peter Gllagher)'s old friend Graham (James Spader), who he hasn’t seen for years, moves into
town, John invites him to dinner. Graham has a fucked up personal history, and he’s no
longer the same person who John was friends with nine years earlier. He’s a bit off,
unusual. John is sleeping with his wife’s sister Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo). This is in part due to his wife Ann(Andie MacDowell)'s lack of
desire for sex, and the two haven't had sex in a long time.
Graham is coping with his troubled past and his impotence by filming woman while asking them about their sexuality and sexual history. Graham's greater openness leads to John, Ann, and Cynthia confronting their own troubled lives, secrets, and sexual frustration.
As the film progresses the dark hidden truths behind these
people and their actions become revealed. In turn, these individuals become
able to admit what they really want and break from the baggage that’s dragging
them down.
The cast is all-around phenomenal, and the film does a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters. The script crafts some exceptional dialogue and asks some mature, thoughtful questions about sexuality, desire, and psychosis.
The cast is all-around phenomenal, and the film does a wonderful job of fleshing out the characters. The script crafts some exceptional dialogue and asks some mature, thoughtful questions about sexuality, desire, and psychosis.
sex, lies, and
videotape is a great character study and a wonderful mood piece.
Grade: A-
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