Movie Review by Bill Rendall

Sex, lies and videotape

Although the title sounds something like a pornographic movie sex, lies and videotape is a fascinating character study of four people. There is no nudity and although there is plenty of talk about sex there are no explicit sex scenes.

Sex, lies and videotape is a great example of an independent movie made on a small budget. There are no special effects, there are few locations and there are few actors.

It seems the sound was recorded at the same time as the visual without little post-editing. There are times within scenes when I noticed the ambient sound change when the camera angle changed. The musical backing is minimalistic so the ambient sound is often very exposed. The music was provided by Cliff Martinez of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Steven Soderbergh is the director and screenwriter of sex, lies and videotape. He had previously shot a Grammy award winning video of the rock band Yes in concert. Sex, lies and videotape won Soderbergh the Palme d'Or in the 1989 Cannes film festival and James Spader picked up the best actor award for his role in the movie.

The performance of James Spader is unusual in many ways. Obviously the way his character gets his kicks is unusual. Spader delivers his lines with mumbles and fillers, and leaves sentences half-finished. This is not unusual in real life but it is unusual in a movie. The hesitant delivery really suits the character Spader is playing.

Another unusual thing he does is to tell his friend's wife (Andie MacDowell) that he is impotent while they chat over lunch. How many guys would want to disclose this information? It seems to arouse the interest of MacDowell. Perhaps she takes it as a personal challenge to cure the problem.

MacDowell plays an unusual character too. At the beginning of the movie she is talking to a psychotherapist. She appears to be inhibited about sex and to have more interest in cleaning up the world. Yet when she discovers how Spader gets his kicks her reaction is ambivalent. While she acts as if she is repulsed she also seems to be intrigued. She has a similar ambivalent reaction to revelations of the sexual activities of her sister (Laura San Giacomo).

The sisters are portrayed in great contrast. MacDowell plays the good sister and San Giacomo plays the bad sister. Their roles are emphasised by MacDowell often wearing white and often cleaning things, while San Giacomo wears darker clothes and does dirty things like potting plants.

Spader also contrasts with his old friend (Peter Gallagher). Gallagher plays a lying lawyer and Spader claims that liars and lawyers are the two lowest forms of life. Gallagher enjoys the material trappings of a successful lawyer while Spader is unconcerned with material possessions and dresses casually. It is hard to imagine that they had been friends at college.

I suspect that there is a lot of Soderbergh in the character that Spader plays. Soderbergh had trouble maintaining relationships with women. He seemed more comfortable relating to women via a camera lens.

There is no great surprise in the storyline of sex, lies and videotape but the interaction of the characters along the way is interesting. If you enjoy movies which have a lot of talking and character development then you should enjoy this one. This movie helped pave the way for other independent film makers and gave the Sundance Film Festival a big boost.

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Screenplay: Steven Soderbergh

Music: Cliff Martinez

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