A movie with a lot of problems
This movie has a lot of problems.
Briefly, it's the story of a young professional woman, Zoe, with a husband, Jason, who would be every woman's - and some men's - wet dream. He has a perfect, muscled body, a smile that could melt an iceberg, and he even washes the dishes. They have sex 2 or 3 times a day. Not a week, a day.
But it isn't enough for her. She wants more.
But more of what? That's one of the problems with this movie. There is a lot of sex in it, though none of it shocking by modern movie standards. But for all the sex, we still have to guess at what Zoe wants. Is it yet more sex? Different sex? Kinkier sex? Is this a distant cousin to *Fifty Shades of Grey* that dares not speak of its desires? Zoe hooks up with an unsubtle but muscled white painter - who, in my eyes, has no talent - and has with him what looks like pretty much the same sort of sex she had been having with her husband. Then she hooks up with a messenger on a motorcycle. Their sex, though no doubt wonderful, looks pretty much the same as what she is having with the other two men, though it usually takes place on a table.
In between all this, Zoe ignores her children and lets her work go down the drain. She is, we are to believe, a sex addict.
That's the first problem. Zoe comes across as insatiable, but not really addicted. She only has men who are so astoundingly handsome/sexy that they would tempt all but the most virtuous. Yet if this movie had been called *Insatiable*, she would have come across as a harlot rather than a sick individual to be pitied, and would have lost the sympathies of the intended audience of well-meaning 20-40 something women. If she were actually addicted to sex, she would have had sex with anyone, and that is not the case. She is only attracted to the hottest men.
The second problem is that her poor husband, Jason, evidently detects nothing once Zoe is unfaithful to him - daily. When he does finally learn he's unhappy, of course, but we know so little about him, he's so poorly developed, that we still can't sympathize with him, though he is the potentially most sympathetic character in the movie.
These actors could probably all have done a lot better if they had been given a script that had developed characters and not just cardboard cut-outs. As it is, we get to watch a lot of evidently passionate sex performed by beautiful bodies, and then at the end have to listen to a few lectures on sexual addiction, which don't come across as very convincing. Zoe's particular case is never explored, so it's hard to believe in it or feel for her.
Zoe's sexual problems with Jason needed to be made clearer. How was he failing her? Jason needs to have been given a character; it's not enough for him just to look great. The script just doesn't make any of the characters interesting and sympathetic, and that's fatal here.
Briefly, it's the story of a young professional woman, Zoe, with a husband, Jason, who would be every woman's - and some men's - wet dream. He has a perfect, muscled body, a smile that could melt an iceberg, and he even washes the dishes. They have sex 2 or 3 times a day. Not a week, a day.
But it isn't enough for her. She wants more.
But more of what? That's one of the problems with this movie. There is a lot of sex in it, though none of it shocking by modern movie standards. But for all the sex, we still have to guess at what Zoe wants. Is it yet more sex? Different sex? Kinkier sex? Is this a distant cousin to *Fifty Shades of Grey* that dares not speak of its desires? Zoe hooks up with an unsubtle but muscled white painter - who, in my eyes, has no talent - and has with him what looks like pretty much the same sort of sex she had been having with her husband. Then she hooks up with a messenger on a motorcycle. Their sex, though no doubt wonderful, looks pretty much the same as what she is having with the other two men, though it usually takes place on a table.
In between all this, Zoe ignores her children and lets her work go down the drain. She is, we are to believe, a sex addict.
That's the first problem. Zoe comes across as insatiable, but not really addicted. She only has men who are so astoundingly handsome/sexy that they would tempt all but the most virtuous. Yet if this movie had been called *Insatiable*, she would have come across as a harlot rather than a sick individual to be pitied, and would have lost the sympathies of the intended audience of well-meaning 20-40 something women. If she were actually addicted to sex, she would have had sex with anyone, and that is not the case. She is only attracted to the hottest men.
The second problem is that her poor husband, Jason, evidently detects nothing once Zoe is unfaithful to him - daily. When he does finally learn he's unhappy, of course, but we know so little about him, he's so poorly developed, that we still can't sympathize with him, though he is the potentially most sympathetic character in the movie.
These actors could probably all have done a lot better if they had been given a script that had developed characters and not just cardboard cut-outs. As it is, we get to watch a lot of evidently passionate sex performed by beautiful bodies, and then at the end have to listen to a few lectures on sexual addiction, which don't come across as very convincing. Zoe's particular case is never explored, so it's hard to believe in it or feel for her.
Zoe's sexual problems with Jason needed to be made clearer. How was he failing her? Jason needs to have been given a character; it's not enough for him just to look great. The script just doesn't make any of the characters interesting and sympathetic, and that's fatal here.
- richard-1787
- 6 mar 2015