Prestigious awards-winning films, just like blockbusters, can look quite underwhelming when watched after passage of time. This happened to Sex, Lies and Videotape, 1989 drama which represented feature directorial debut of Steven Soderbergh and was later credited for American independent cinema boom in 1990s.
The plot is set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and revolves around lives of four people in their early 30s. Ann Bishop Mullany (played by Andie MacDowell) is housewife who has apparently lost interest for sex. Her husband, successful lawyer John Mullany (played by Peter Gallagher) is having torrid affair with Ann’s free-spirited bohemian sister Cynthia Patrice Bishop (played by Laura San Giacomo). John’s old friend Graham Dalton (played by James Spader) is returning to the city after nine years and John invites him to his home until he finds proper accommodation. Ann finds Graham, black-clad eccentric who likes to live in his car, odd but nevertheless intriguing. John, in order to have as much opportunity for his trysts with Cynthia, encourages Ann to hang out with him and help him find a place to rent. Ann discovers that Graham is impotent and instead finds sexual gratification in watching videotapes of women he talked into discussing sex lives and most intimate fantasies. Ann is at first shocked, while her sister gets an idea to make one such videotape.
Made with very small budget, Sex, Lies and Videotape was first shown at Sundance Film Festival, where it won Audience Award. Later it was shown at Cannes Film Festival where it won Palme d’Or and Best Actor Award for James Spader. This triumph was followed by rave reviews and even some decent box office success. From today’s perspective, it is certain that at least some of those awards were justified. Soderbergh’s direction is solid, especially in the second part of the film and he handles his meagre resources well. The most important resource – the cast – is quite up to the task. Spader is excellent in the role of character that would be intolerable creep if played by any other character; he is very subtle in giving Graham a little of “bad boy” charm and sense of mystery that could explain why all those women were willing to share their most intimate secrets with them. Andie MacDowell, until that time known mostly as pretty face, is very good in the role of frustrated housewife whose mindset seems to belong in 1980s; Laura San Giacomo is also very credible in the role of sister that represent the opposite of Ann’s character. Peter Gallagher is somewhat less impressive in the role of a slimy yuppie-like attorney.
Soderbergh, however, fails in his script. Characters are well-played but they are poorly written and often burdened with terrible dialogue. It is never properly established how two such different characters like John and Graham could have been friends. Soderbergh also has problems with pacing and the first thirty minutes of the film, which establishes characters, will test some viewers’ patience. On the other hand, Sex, Lies and Videotape, despite its title and intriguing explorations of sexuality in video age, is surprisingly chaste film that lacks any nudity or explicit eroticism.
Some later critics tried to give some sort of historic importance to Sex, Lies and Videotape trying to describe as first “proper Gen X film” or the first film that tried to explore effects of modern technology on human intimacy and interpersonal relationships. This might be subject for debate, but Soderbergh would later make much better and more memorable films. Sex, Lies and Videotape, however, also entered history for being one of the first major hits for Miramax Films and the first big trophy in career of controversial producer Harvey Weinstein, who would later become expert for getting prestigious film awards.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
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