Battle of the Sexes
FILM: Confessions of a Sexist Pig
DIRECTOR: Sandy Tung
STARRING: Edward Kerr, Traylor Howard
GRADE: B
 |
|
JACK WESTMORE (EDWARD KERR) ROOTS HIS WAY THROUGH A RELATIONSHIP WITH
ANNE HENNING (TRAYLOR HOWARD) IN CONFESSIONS OF A SEXIST PIG.
|
Writer/director Sandy Tung should have contemplated the ancient wisdom that if
you only have one trick, you don't have any tricks. His current Confessions
of a Sexist Pig has only one trick, so do the math. The trick is that Jack
Westmore (Edward Kerr) and Anne Henning (Traylor Howard) are soap opera actors
who play doctors involved in a torrid romance, while in "real life" Jack and
Anne don't like each other even as they make a deal to become casual sex
partners. So is this scene "real" or is it Memorex? Maybe Tung tricks you once.
But he doesn't trick you twice, even though he employs his trick over and over
again.
To be blunt, there's a lot to dislike about this flick. Jack's
"confessions" that he thinks monogamy is unnatural for men, made directly to
the camera in hyper-smirk, are thoroughly irritating without ever becoming
genuinely provocative. Thus, this picture lacks the courage of its premise.
Meanwhile, the film's secondary characters are downright embarrassing. First,
we have the horny bosses, Marty (Sal Viscuso) and Shelley (Anneliza Scott).
Marty likes to talk dirty and have affairs. Shelley likes to strip down to her
bra and thong panties and have sex in her office. Then we have the doofus
co-stars, Troy (Michael Trucco) and Tracy (Lauren Graham). Troy lifts weights
and brays like a jackass. Tracy has the sexual habits of a bunny. Both are
dumber than a basket of lug nuts. They're both so stupid that they take
romantic advice from Jack, whose notion of romance is a crude remark.
Well, we know where this is going, don't we? Anne is going to act
like a guy. And that means Jack will learn his lesson by becoming a simpering
wimp. Almost miraculously, Kerr and Howard manage to rise above this material
to give commendable performances, but they're saddled with such predictable
developments that their efforts can't save a thing. This all might have been
passably tolerable had it been even occasionally funny. But I laughed exactly
not even once.
|
