‘Sex Tape’ Review

The question that you ask yourself when trying to decide if watching a comedy or not is “Will this be funny?” Well, if you ask me that in regards to “Sex Tape” may answer is “Yes, and no.”

The beginning of the movie is a lot of fun, showing the evolution of a relationship from its hormone-driven first months to a less exciting and more settled state. Most people in their 30’s and older that have been in a relationship for a while can relate with the nostalgia factor and the struggle against a the routine, specially when you have likable characters and actors. Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Siegel) are a married couple in the suburbs that trying to recapture yesterday’s passion decide to record themselves during a marathonic night of sexual activity. As you know, things go very bad when they discover that the video is distributed by accident to friends, family and acquaintances’ iPads.

Immediately, the film starts its journey into the familiar territory of comedies like “Date Night,” “Blind Date,” and even “Adventures in Babysitting,” with the protagonists abandoning their comfort zone to live a night of danger. The set-up and the excuse for the whole thing are great, but it feels as the writers (including Siegel) couldn’t figure out what to do with the rest. The two last thirds of the movie feel stretched with overly long scenes that aren’t funny, edgy nor emotional enough to justify their lengths or existence altogether. Despite its title, compared to recent R rated comedies like “22 Jump Street” and “Neighbors,” the flick is too safe and unimaginative.

The clearest example of the lack of fresh ideas to support the story beyond the promising concept is when both of them show up at Annie’s potential new boss’ mansion. Jay starts to being followed by a German Sheppard is a gag that was funny two decades ago in “Father of the Bride,” and him fighting the animal in such a ridiculous way is a tired trope. Marlon Wayans vs. the chicken in “A Haunted House 2” is a recent -and funnier- example. At the same time we see Annie dealing with Hank (Rob Lowe), an extravagant man that has paintings of himself as Disney characters. This scene may last 10 minutes but it feels longer. In part, because of the randomness of the “jokes,” but mainly because it doesn’t make any sense that they would worry about someone this progressive and depraved would hurt someone’s career for recording a sex video with her spouse.

There are moments here and there that got good laughs out of me, in particular the whole “Cloud” thing, the Rob Corddry character, and flashes of the recording itself. But, unless you are a hardcore Diaz and Siegel fan and you laugh just by looking at them, “Sex Tape” will feel more like a routinary film-watching experience than an unforgettable night.

“Sex Tape” is now playing in theaters nationwide.