Skip to main content

Review: Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

At this point, director, Steven Soderbergh, is a well-worn name in the industry and he has had a long career making successful and highly acclaimed films through a variety of genres. However, in 1989, Soderbergh was just another aspiring unknown, and one who was about to surprise the world with his directorial debut, Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The film would go on to jump-start the independent film movement prominent through the 1990's. It would also cement Soderbergh as a true, young talent; the film itself won Cannes' coveted Palme d'Or in '89, as well, it netted Soderbergh multiple award nominations for the film's script.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape is an intricate and mature film about the inter-relations of four individuals and their sexual lives - desires, repressions and liasons. The film centres upon one married couple, the wife's younger sister and a friend of the husband who has recently returned to town. The catalyst of the film is the friend, Graham, played by James Spader, who we learn has a habit of videotaping women and interviewing them, rather intimately, about their sexual lives. His return leads to a series of developments that impact the state of the couple's marriage as well as the relations with the sister. The couple and the sister are respectively played by Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher and Laura San Giacomo. This type of chracter-focused story would not work without strong performances, and, in that, all four are excellent throughout the film. The characters and the developments that occur are written with depth, realism and complexity, which again a
dds to the incredulity that Soderbergh was only twenty-six at the time of writing, as well, that he wrote the entire script on a yellow legal pad over the span of eight days while driving across the country.
This film has an important legacy for its impact on independent film as well, for its successful introduction to the now-prominent, Steven Soderbergh. For those that enjoy a tense, sexually-charged character drama Sex, Lies, and Videotape would be well worth your time to watch.
9/10
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Palm Springs (2020)

Palm Springs (2020) TLDR: An entertaining story of a man and woman stuck in a same-day loop, an entertaining story of a man and woman stuck in a same-day loop, an entertaining sto -- While not the first and definitely not the last take on the 'time loop' story, Palm Springs succeeds as a contemporary rom-com due to the strength of the two leads, the film's consistent laughs and shocks, and an underlying and compelling depth at the heart of the story.  Palm Springs is yet another highly-recommended indie film that gives new life into a well worn genre and premise. The time loop setup has been attached to pretty much every type of story at this point from action to horror, drama to rom-com. Of course, one of the originals, Groundhog Day, may be the most similar to Palm Springs in its somewhat kitschy romantic comedy. However, Palm Springs has contemporary stylings in its honest and flawed characters, its edge and bouts of crudeness/violence, and its tendency to ve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: How to With John Wilson (Season 1)

How to With John Wilson (Season 1) TLDR: It's hard to describe exactly what How To is or why exactly it works, but there's a certain point in every episode when the comedy begins to click and then the human element - the surprising poignancy and the everyman/woman relatability - comes out in spades. This documentary series is unlike anything else out there and absolutely worth your time. Who exactly is John Wilson? That's the first question that comes to mind when HBO's new documentary series is recommended to a new viewer. The name is in the show's title, and yet John Wilson is rather a nobody in the grand scheme of things as well as in the entertainment industry (at least he was prior to the becoming a bonafide hit). However, not long ago, contemporary comedy icon Nathan Fielder discovered Wilson and, after seeing his work and style, decided to jump on board as a producer for a new series made by Wilson.  So, again, what exactly is this show? Well, each episode of...
Post a Comment
Read more

Discussion: Parasite's Big Oscar Win

Parasite: Ushering In A New Era For The Oscars? Last night's Best Picture win by Parasite was a major milestone for the Academy Awards. It marked the first time in history that a foreign-language film won the Oscars' highest accolade. As many voices are currently discussing, this may be the precursor to a new era of internationalism for the Academy Awards, as well as, for Hollywood and Western cinema.  Firstly, let's just say with certainty that Bong Joon-Ho's Parasite deserved the myriad of awards it received last night: Best International Feature, Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. Notably, making the wins even more special was the fact that it was the first time a South Korean had been nominated for either Best Picture or International Feature. Parasite really is a marvelous film though, and one that should be seen by all. The film is about a 'parasitic' lower-class family who slowly infiltrate an upper-class family through various i...
Post a Comment
Read more