Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Movie review: Sex and Death 101

By Alex Bentley

The sickeningly handsome Simon Baker in his element.

In a pre-film introduction, writer/director Daniel Waters (Heathers) described his new film, Sex and Death 101, as about eight films crammed into one. He attributed this to the fact that he only gets to make films every few years, so he has to try to get all of his ideas out at once. Waters’ intro actually does a disservice to the film – it makes the film sound much more unfocused than it actually is. In truth, Sex and Death 101 is only about three or four films in one, with love story, sex romp, and mystery heading the list. And while the focus could have been much tighter, the film does have an overall cohesiveness that makes it work in spite of its lesser moments.

Simon Baker plays Roderick Blank, a marketing specialist for the suggestively-named upscale burger joint Swallows. Blank is happily engaged to Fiona (Julie Bowen) until he receives a mysterious e-mail that contains a list of everyone he’s slept with in his life – and everyone he supposedly will sleep with. This causes a problem as Fiona is only #29 on a list that contains, yep, 101 names. Naturally, Blank soon finds himself unable to resist the lure of tracking down every woman on the list to fulfill what he thinks is his destiny. Blank is one of those irresistible guys that only exists in the movies. He has no problem racking up the sexual conquests as each woman on the list is more than willing to sleep with him at a moment’s notice.

Some men would die for one kiss from Winona Ryder -- and in this film, they do.

That’s the sex romp part of the film. The love story part comes and goes throughout, as Blank occasionally finds himself dissatisfied with the constant stream of hot sex (who wouldn’t?), and yearns for an actual meaningful relationship. Therein lies the mystery, though, as the list was produced by, for lack of a better term, a fate machine, which is manned by three guys who have differing views on how to guide Blank in his quest. A second mystery, which is on an obvious collision course with Blank, is the exploits of Death Nell (Winona Ryder), a woman who has taken it upon herself to rid the world of men because, well, it’s about time a woman got back at men for the way they’ve treated women through the ages. But only after sleeping with them, of course.

Baker has carved out a niche the past couple of years as the perfect hot guy in Something New and The Devil Wears Prada. He plays a decent version of that for most of the film, but falters more than a little when he’s called upon to do comedy, overacting in those parts to the point where it’s almost uncomfortable. Most of women in the film are little more than set dressing with boobs, but Leslie Bibb has a nice stint in the middle of the film, playing the one woman who looks to be immune to Blank’s charm. Ryder is billed as one of the stars of the film, but she has little to do until the very end, and thus doesn’t make much of an impression.

Sex and Death 101 probably would’ve worked better as just a straight-up sex comedy. Life lessons and intrigue aren’t exactly a good fit with a man who runs through 70+ women with hardly a second thought. But the film does have its good moments, and Baker proves that he can elevate a sub-par story into something watchable. Unfortunately for DFW moviegoers, it looks like Sex and Death 101 will not be receiving a local theatrical release. It will be released on DVD on July 1, though, so be on the lookout for that.

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• Arts > Movies / Film > Independent Films