Group Sex
Is
it possible to make a sweet romantic comedy about sex addiction?
Probably not, but the makers of Group Sex do their best to try.
And
while it doesn’t really work, it’s not a horrible effort. If it had a bit
more backing behind it I could see Ben Stiller and Kate Hudson trying to
pull this kind of material off. It probably wouldn’t have worked for them
either, but I could see the attempt being made.
For
whatever problems Group Sex has, one positive is that the leads Josh
Cooke (Better with You, Bachelor Party 2) and Odette Yustman (Cloverfield,
You Again) are actually significantly more likable than Stiller and
Hudson would have been.
The
film has a premise which seems built for (and possibly by) a sex comedy
focus group. Nice, sensitive bachelor Andy (Cooke) sees Vanessa, a gorgeous
singer (Yustman) performing at open mike night at his local bar. He is so
taken by the singer that he follows (stalks?) her to a local church, where,
qu’elle horreur, the object of his affection turns out to be
attending a twelve step program for sex addiction.
Therefore, this sweet and sensitive guy, in order to get to know the woman
of his dreams, must pretend to be a horndog womanizer so
that he can join the program. He has a perfect
role model in his best friend/roommate/business partner Jerry (Greg
Grunberg) – a
hound of the first order. Ironically, the closer he gets to his love
interest, the more she doesn’t trust him because she thinks incorrectly he
is a ladies man and also assumes his slimeball friend is the sensitive guy
who was jilted at the altar
–
a fictional background that is based upon Andy’s real life.
Can
you say wacky complications?
Group Sex has
a surprisingly strong supporting cast for such an obviously low budget
comedy, including Yustman as the stunning love interest, Grunberg (Heroes)
as the horny best friend, Greg Germann (Ally McBeal)
and Kurt Fuller as business contacts and Tom Arnold, Lisa Lampanelli and Henry Winkler
as some of the members of the Sex Anonymous group.
Once
you get past the idea of the Fonz talking about masturbation and anal sex,
it’s an interesting casting job.
You
have to assume this reasonable level of talent is down to Grunberg, who
co-wrote and co-produced the film as well as playing the sidekick. Grunberg
plays the role with extreme good humor, after all his character is pretty
repugnant the whole way through but remains rather funny.
Also, the central romance – though extremely unlikely – is kind of sweet and
touching.
Then
again, some of the sexaholic stuff just goes way too far – particularly a
mousy loser (Rob Benedict) who is apparently physically unable to stop
himself from masturbating in public and a flamboyant woman (Kym Whitley) who
falls off the celibacy wagon with all of the subtlety of a rutting moose.
Then
again, if subtlety is what you’re looking for, you probably wouldn’t be
watching a movie called Group Sex.
However, if you are looking for a vaguely kinky romantic comedy with nothing
but dumb laughs and just a touch of pathos on its mind, then you could do
worse.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: December 3, 2010.
