The Sex Monster

Sex Monster 1999

A movie with some very funny moments. There were a few scenes that caused me to laugh hysterically and that is unusual for me. Although Mariel Hemmingway has never been a favorite of mine, she definitely brings strong acting talent to this movie. Her wardrobe is interesting yet appropriate for the scenes in the movie. Mike Binder does a great job of carrying the movie with a combination of almost dramatic acting skills but definite ability as a straight man and the occasional goof ball. Missy Crider is always a good actress, in this movie I don't think she was given a strong enough role and the role she had did not give her adequate room to demonstrate her true skills or to allow her usual sensual self to come through. I believe the movie would have been much better had Mariel and Missy had each other's roles. But obviously the director thought otherwise. Directors always have the right to be wrong I guess. Warning; do not let the title or the movie synopsis fool you. There is almost nothing erotic about this movie. It is funny, but not erotic. The jacket suggests a lot of lesbian activity. Most of that activity is not seen however but alluded to or happens with the camera elsewhere. On the eroticism scale this movie is a 2 out of 10. There is also very little nudity. For the most part (with the exception of what I noted above) the movie was well cast. The plot is plausible but the sequence of events is not, hence we have a clever comedy. I recommend this movie for a good laugh only. It is not a movie to watch for the whole family due to the adult theme of lesbianism and sexual threesomes. As a non-erotic comedy I would rate this 6 out of 10.

If Binder sold HBO on his pathetic "Mind of the Married Man" series based on having written and directed and starred in this film, it wouldn't surprise me, as both had a lot of the same elements and ideas, and both were equally lame.

Binder is no Woody Allen. For that matter, he's no Albert Brooks either. He's not even a Gene Wilder, about the most unlikely actor for a sex farce I can imagine, but then maybe women see some kind of appeal to that sad puppy personna..

But someone must think Binder is funny, else they wouldn't be throwing money at him as HBO did..

Sex Monster (don't let the title deceive you.. this isn't a movie about Godzilla humping Tokyo).. can be taken as a prequel to Mind of the Married Man with one exception.. instead of fantasizing and visualizing in his mind, other women in bed with his wife, this film explores the possibilities in a very tame way. If you're looking for Mariel Hemingway nude, forget it. In fact for a sex romp, this film has alarmingly little nudity at all. Lots of tease shots, and women moaning and groaning behind a closed bedroom door, one almost topless shot in a swimming pool, that's about it.

Mariel Hemingway, still gorgeous after all these years, and quite a screen presence, plays Binder's straight and faithful wife to whom he pitches the idea of a second woman in bed with them.. most every guy's unfulfilled fantasy.. at first put off by the concept, she aims to please him, she warms to it, then dives face first, as it were, into it, to the point that he got what he wished for and now he wants to un-wish it..

The way this film was shot and edited reminds me of an even tamer version of the way "adult" hardcore videos are presented on tape, versus how they end up on channels like "Spice" where you see the tops of a lot of heads bobbing up and down..

I kept waiting and waiting for the big payoff.. but this is a sex film with no "money shot", both literally and figuratively.

It's a one line joke that somehow got stretched to an hour an a half, and it moves at such a glacial pace that I actually fell asleep the first time I tried to watch it.

Mariel Hemingway is still beautiful, still talented, and she deserves to be pitched much better scripts than this one, and someone needs to tell Binder that his fantasies are simply just not rip-roaringly hilarious..

I've often heard it said that reality is never as good as fantasy. That's one of the lessons found in this movie. Marty (Mike Binder) is feeling a bit bored in his marriage to Laura (Mariel Hemingway.) To "spice" things up a bit, he suggests that they invite another woman into the relationship - although one suspects that Mike's real purpose is to fulfil his own fantasies rather than to spice up the marriage. After resisting, Laura agrees very reluctantly to invite one of her co-workers into their bed. Nervous at first (and there's even a certain sweetness to her nervousness about the first encounter) Laura turns into a lesbian sex monster - as the title implies - seducing every woman she can. Meanwhile, Marty feels increasingly jealous and left out. So, Marty's reality was less exciting than his fantasy, and he learned the importance of the old proverb "be careful what you wish for because you might get it." I liked - as I noted - the real sweetness of Laura's nervous first encounter, and there were some funny moments scattered throughout this - especially in the last few minutes, and Laura's encounter with Evie.

The problem with this, though, was the character of Marty. I didn't like him - not from the start. I didn't like him pushing his wife into something she didn't want, and then - having pushed her to go along - I didn't like him blaming her for all the consequences. Not liking Marty is a major problem in this movie, because the whole thing is shot basically from Marty's perspective. He's rarely off camera, and the character grates, which really makes it hard to enjoy this, even though it does have a few moments now and then that are worthy of a laugh.

For those wondering, this really isn't a movie for voyeurs. There's no explicit sex scenes; most of what happens "between the girls" is implied but not shown, and what is shown is mostly Marty's reaction to what he's seeing. It's certainly not a family movie by any means, but it isn't explicit. If you can get past the Marty thing (or, if you have a less negative reaction to him than I did) you might well find this enjoyable. Unfortunately, Marty really made this a mediocre viewing experience for me.

Do not be misled by the title into thinking this is the latest in a long and star-studded line of the Playboy movie of week fare. This is actually an amusing if someone self-fulfilling and happy meal packaged film. Its focus is on a Husband (Mike Binder) and his subservient and submissive wife (Mariel Hemmingway) who is finally convinced her to give in to her natural female instincts and allow another woman into the marital bed. What starts off down the trail of many a male's fantasy quickly goes astray when it is apparent that he is no longer needed in the bedroom.

Mikes downward spiral is amusing as he goes from shear disbelief that he is living the playboy ideal to pleading with his wife to refrain from sleeping with his baby sister. The movie was written and directed by Mike Binder who acquits him self nicely as he takes on the role of protagonist and victim during the some 94 minutes running time. Though never fully rising above the straight to video look, the film does not bore or detract from the comedy of a now fully functioning sex monster wife, who is out to sleep with just about every woman she comes across. Mariel Hemmingway is rather amusing and begs the question, where in her career did she go wrong? She is both pretty and entertaining, qualities it would seem, should have destined her for Julia Roberts heights. Alack alas the movie gods are cruel by nature it would seem. Stephen Baldwin makes a fleeting appearance as a business partner whose wife appears to have been locked in a tower for most of her adult life.

Those looking to find something to pass time, have a laugh and have the message "be careful for what you wish, you may just get it" beaten into you, can rest assured you will find what you are looking for here. However for those of you, who may have seen the title and thought that it would be an excellent way to get your rocks of, I suggest you go find one of those Playboy movies of week I discussed earlier.

This movie is moderately funny and humorous in spots.I would have liked to have "seen" a little more. It would have been nice to have seen Mariel Hemingway or Renee Humphrey or Missy Crider or any of the other actresses actually naked!!! I'm not talking about hard core or explicit scenes but just a little bit of what's supposedly going on on the bed between the women or even one of them walking around topless would have been okay. The sex wasn't there. The plot was however and the "monster" that was created by the husband's urgings became slightly funny. Not a great film but one that was amusing in some respects. Maybe worth watching keeping in mine that it's there for the implications and the laughs.