User Reviews

This so-called "sex comedy" has very little to recommend it. A one- joke affair that seems to take forever to get to its well- telegraphed "climax", this justly titled "Just a Little Harmless Sex" was obviously directed by someone who realized that the script was so boring that the only chance the producer had of retrieving some of his money was a quick sale to TV. The only trouble with this theory is that Rick Rosenthal was both producer and director, so why he chose to direct EVERY SINGLE CAMERA SET-UP in a boringly relentless TV style, abounding with tight close-ups and two-shots (plus an occasional three for a bit of variety) is a real mystery. Admittedly, the players do make a gallant effort to keep the movie moving, but they are hemmed in by a plot that telegraphs its next scene "surprises" well ahead of the game. How the movie managed to amass such good reviews amazes me. Normally, reviewers would tear apart such a poorly written and over- strenuously acted show that moves with the pace of a snail from one boring, well-telegraphed scene to the next. Admittedly, the players put a lot of effort into their roles, but that's just the problem. Successful acting must SEEM effortless!

Spoilers herein.

We all want to be teenagers and some films are built to pander to that drive.

The teenage condition is one in which all things are subservient to sex, but sex isn't something you actually do. It isn't something that is a component of a relationship but something that defines it (and life). It is how you define yourself. Friends exist to talk about things, and since all things ultimately are part of that prime mover, the topic is always sex in some form.

How to engineer a movie for this? Talk talk talk about sex -- don't do it. (Have a strip tease with no stripping.) Have some minidramas on the order of `going steady' and `breaking' up, but cast it among grown-ups. That's because the target audience wants to be kids but doesn't see itself as kids. Have lots of `raw' talk. Have some minor misunderstandings and difficulties that only become large because they have been talked about with friends. Have opportunistic crushes.

Denote the fact that we are generation-hopping by having the `Mom' be hot and `in play.' Don't have any redheads because redheads are serious stuff (in movies).

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 4: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.