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Sex Tape: awkward and disappointing

Film & TV

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A film about a film that you’re not meant to see.

That’s the premise of Sex Tape, starring Cameron Diaz (Bad Teacher, The Holiday) and Jason Segel (This is 40, Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

Diaz and Segel (who co-wrote the screenplay), are married parents Annie and Jay, who are stuck in the doldrums and decide to reignite their love life by making a little sex tape.

Now the … ahem … session and filming go extremely well, but the film is accidently shared via synced iPads which the couple gave out to family, friends, co-workers and even the mailman. When they discover this, the couple panic and devise a plan to get back all the iPads before their dignity and lives are destroyed.

The ensuing plan goes from one bad decision to the next, which eventually sees them putting everything at risk – including their relationship.

While the premise of the film sets up some laugh-out-loud moments, a poor script, stodgy plotting and the confusion created by mixing R-rated comedy with sickly sweet rom-com ideals just doesn’t work.

The film is also let down by the lack of on-screen chemistry between Diaz and Segel. Diaz tries hard – perhaps too hard at times – but Segel’s performance seems lazy and the dynamic comes off as goofy.

Highlights include a wonderful oddball cameo by Rob Lowe – who was involved in his own true-life sex-tape scandal years ago – and another fantastic cameo by Jack Black  in the final act. Unfortunately, these don’t lift the film above average; if you took it to bed, you would probably feel rather awkward and disappointed by the whole experience.

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