Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) User Reviews

"Did anybody touch anybody"

[PredragReviews · 8/10 · 13 June 2016]

A strange, but very rewarding movie. Soderbergh has went on to create many wonderful films since "Sex, Lies and Videotape" but what has captured my attention about this film is his how he kept the film simple and concentrated on the details around the four characters. He mentions in the commentary of his influence of Eric Rohmer (who created the popular films as part of his "Six Moral Tales") and the long dialogue between characters. Maybe it made no impression to me back then but now, any director who can have their characters engage in dialogue with meaning and profoundness is wonderful.

Andie MacDowell was the surprising star because in the beginning, I thought she would be the typical jilted housewife but we see her character emerge as one that is confused to one that finally gains perspective. Laura San Giacomo did well in portraying the free-will Cynthia (which she would go on to do again in "Pretty Woman"), John Mullany (Peter Gallagher) was the ultimate sleezeball and for Graham (Spader), his character was mysterious and although the viewer doesn't know exactly what had happen to him, it's how the character was changed after changing the character he videotaped. As the film itself, one can see how this independent film helped revolutionize indie films and allowing media coverage. Sure, we see independent films, art-house films receive media coverage today but in the context of independent films getting seen by a wide audience, "Sex, Lies, and Videotape" was definitely instrumental in being part of that small group of films that Hollywood would give a chance to.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Exquisitely crafted, honest, minimalist and an almost perfect product

[ghanti · 8/10 · 23 September 2008]

It is a film about relationships, dilemma, courage and more. What works in life and what does not. Honesty does and (crudely speaking) at a very basic level that is the message. At the very heart are the three protagonists who are stuck. The therapist is spectacularly wrong in his interpretation to the apparently frigid wife: 'If you think about it ...you are obsessed about things you have no control over'. But she demonstrates at the end that she did have the control. All she needed was a better, more 'intimate' therapist; a catalyst : Graham ; who ends up uncluttering the cheating sister in law's mind and forces the husband to confront his problems in the process. It is a remarkably optimistic film in its content and therefore perhaps slightly unrealistic.

It is a film about masterful use of contrasts; the two women and the two men could not have been more opposite in every possible respect. In a way Graham is also a perfect contrast to the imperfect Psychoanalyst. This helps the director bring out the message clearly.

The whole film is crafted in a minimalist way, flows smoothly and does not carry much 'garbage'! Music, camera and the narrative are almost perfect in that they are almost invisible. So are the actors, especially James Spader and to a large extent Andie MacDowell. Gallegher is probably less than perfect but very good nonetheless. Laura Giacomo portrays a rather difficult character really well. It treats the audience with respect as the message is subtle and very personal, as it should be. My only grievance is the last office scene involving Gallegher was probably unnecessary.

Sex and the videotapes are incidental to the storey and perhaps misnomers therefore.

It is like reading a rather well written short storey and I would recommend 'Days And Nights In The Forest' (perhaps slightly more realistic and understated than this film) by Satyajit Ray to those who have enjoyed this film.

My rating 8/10.

A staple in indie films

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 25 July 2019]

"The last time I was happy, I got so fat."

If you chuckle during Andie MacDowell's famous line in Sex, Lies and Videotape, you'll probably think of her sister, Laura San Giacomo as the lead. If you laugh yourself silly, knowing Andie's confession is also true for you, you'll probably think of her as the lead. My weight has always been a direct correlation of my happiness, so that line been added to my household phrases!

If you've never seen it, you'll have to put on your 1989 goggles before renting Steven Soderbergh's breakthrough indie movie. By today's standards, this movie is tame. In 1989, it was shocking and actually considered quite nasty. It was a time before the internet, before photos and videos were constantly taken and spread around, and a time when movies didn't always show nudity and graphic sex scenes. By today's standards, it's not really an oddity if a young man prefers to film and watch sexual encounters rather than to participate in them, but in 1989, James Spader's character was very unusual. Just like most photographers or videographers, he uses the lens to distance himself from situations. He asks people questions about their sexual experiences, and when the women answer him honesty, it's supposed to be very daring. It was daring in 1989!

The other part of the plot is a love triangle involving the dreamy Peter Gallagher. He's married to Andie, but having an affair with her sister, Laura. I've played Laura's part in two separate college reproductions, so I've studied the script probably far more than the average viewer. There's quite a bit to analyze in Soderbergh's script, which film students have been discussing for thirty years. It's a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it movie, so if you watch it and shrug, don't feel like you're missing something. There are plenty of people who think it's overrated and weird, just as there are plenty of people who think it's a staple in indie movies.

The same as you learned in Sunday School, only the exemplars are different

[csm23 · 25 July 2003]

Sex, Lies and Videotape will probably strike the average viewer as irredeemably degenerate, maybe even perverted, since voyeurism is still considered aberrant behavior. But as far as this film is concerned, that's the appearance, not the reality. Whereas the drama revolves to a certain extent around the voyeuristic masturbation of an impotent man, the heart and soul of the film is an unrelenting, hard driving psychological siege on the biggest erogenous zone of all: the brain.

This film is about sex. But it's not about the frothy swapping of fluids and feelings. It's about honesty, without which one can't have intimacy, which is to sexual stimulation what the water valve is to the hydrant. From beginning to end, we see this theme brought into focus by the dramatic contrast between two different relationships – the one based on lies and deceit, the other based upon honesty. And guess which one wins out in the long run?

In a sense, it's what your mother and Sunday school teacher taught you all along. But what makes this movie way more interesting than your mother or Sunday school teacher is the level of honesty it suggests is necessary as the basis of a healthy relationship. Ann (Andy McDowell), for example, an acceptably moral person tells the voyeuristic masturbator `You got a problem.' He replies by adding that he has a lot of problems. But, he says, `They belong to me.'

Somehow, the openness about one's problems renders their bile and poison ineffective. `Lilies that fester,' said Shakespeare, `smell far worse than weeds.'

Lies and Videotape, but mostly talk

[canadude · 7/10 · 31 May 2004]

Yes, "Sex, Lies and Videotape" is about sex, lies and videotape. And, while the sex is mostly served in dialogue-form and not a single shot of nudity is present, there is some graphic lying and some explicit videotape. Kinky, right?

Well, not really. "Sex, Lies and Videotape" is Steven Sodenbergh's first film and it's not a bad one. It's just not entirely worthy of the praise it received, at Cannes for example. The situations in the film do create a fair amount of tension that moves the story along. But then, it'd be hard not to have some tension in a film about a woman whose husband is cheating on her with her sister, while she starts interacting with a stranger who is the husband's old college roommate and has a strange videotape fetish and may or may not be a pathological liar. (How do you believe someone who just confessed to having been a pathological liar to not being one anymore? The film doesn't really riddle that one for us.)

Clearly, these characters clash together. But it's not as heated or interesting as it was in later Sodenbergh's films like the spectacular "Traffic." The dialogues in "Sex, Lies and Videotape" range from good to incredibly awkward. But the real strength of the film is the actors. While James Spader clearly stands out - I have never seen him deliver such a subtle performance where every scene simply works for him - Andie McDowell is phenomenal, Peter Gallagher playing the scummy, treacherous husband yuppie lawyer type is great and Laura San Giacomo as the vulgar sister / lover is fabulous. Their performances make the script work, which, under normal circumstances with inferior actors would have seemed rather silly.

A MAGNIFICENT, UNDERRATED FILM THAT'S LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN!!!

[mattymatt4ever · 10/10 · 17 July 2001]

"sex, lies and videotape" is a low-key drama that REALLY showcases Stephen Soderbergh's true talents. The film was made on a modest budget and is mainly dialogue-driven, yet I was deeply fascinated from start to finish. This is another film that sends out a message to all aspiring directors: You don't need a large budget to make a truly great motion picture! Soderbergh hasn't received worldwide fame until recently with the hit "Traffic." As much as I loved "Traffic" I urge everyone--who's curious of Soderbergh's work--go check out this initial effort.

The element that impressed me the most was the succint, yet brutally realistic dialogue. I've never been more impressed with a film's dialogue and actually screamed out, "Now THAT'S how people talk!" The interactions between each character are so intense and down to earth, and gets the audience deeply engaged. James Spader shines in this career-making performance as a documentary filmmaker who gets his rocks off filming women talking about sex. We never know why he developed this unusual interest, but that's what's so great. And the way Spader carries his character is so subtle and powerful. His character is quiet and mysterious, and he expresses this enigmatic role perfectly with every silence, every facial gesture, every tone of voice. That's another element that I loved. Soderbergh expresses to his audience that people don't always mean what they say. And you can tell by every hint of body language. During these character interplays, you get a feel for what the characters are really thinking with their every subtle nuance. And that's what creates most of the film's tension.

And of course, the film has great depth and treats its subject with the greatest of maturity. In one scene, Spader interviews this young woman who talks about her first experience with masturbation. That could've easily been transformed into something gratuitous and heavy-handed. The subjects of sex and infidelity are treated with a sense of reality, and I'm sure many couples who are involved in relationships where one of the mates are cheating will find the whole situation with Andie McDowell and Peter Gallagher haunting. Everything is low-key and some might find the rhythm slow-moving, but that's what I liked about it. It slowly unfolds and takes its time developing the characters and their situations. Many filmmakers would've taken the subject of infidelity and made it into a melodramatic soap. But Soderbergh is very patient. He never once thinks, "Maybe the audience is not interested anymore," and speeds things up. He goes at his own pace, and works with it consistently.

I don't know if others will get the same effect I did out of this movie, but appreciate a film that respects its characters and respects its dialogue. Sure, I also appreciate a film with massive entertainment value, but other times I'd rather watch something with depth and realism. This is one of those films that just has a subtle energy. Looking at "sex, lies and videotape" from the outside, it's hard to explain the power of Soderbergh's masterpiece. All I say is go see for yourself! I hope you'll be just as astounded.

My score: 10 (out of 10)

Sorry, not convinced

[orly-yahalom · 6/10 · 10 August 2010]

The film has some moments of interest and good acting, mainly by Andie MacDowell. However, all in all, I felt disappointment and boredom, which increased as the movie progressed.

The main idea in the movie is the dramatic change which the characters go through once Graham enters their lives. Well, I could not see anything about Graham that could drive such a change. Why is the introverted Ann suddenly opens up to this eccentric stranger? Why is her sister so keen to meet him, knowing basically nothing about him, and why does this meeting drive her to make a significant change in her life?

As for the Graham character itself, by the end of the movie we still know little about him, which makes it a bit awkward when Ann confronts him about his life. However, I didn't feel any interest in knowing more about him. The same goes for the other characters. Cynthia has been particularly shallow and didn't seem to have any motive in her life except resenting her sister.

I guess that the idea of talking about sex was sensational at the time, but now when it became trivial, we are left with a pretentious movie that gives little of what a good drama should.

Spader is amazing!

[Aphex97 · 10/10 · 8 November 2001]

Spader's character was the reason I enjoyed the film so much. I could identify with him and his dilemma. It seemed he felt like a stranger in an even stranger land. Who were these humans that seem so happy in the same world he could not find happiness within? What is this life we live? More importantly, what is the point? Why bother? His great battle with existence was a philosophical one. He, like myself, felt infinite sadness over the knowledge that are no concrete answers...

The movie is also interesting because it attacks the main sexual organ, the mind. Graham while trying to distance himself from the human experience by capturing sex confessionals on videotape, perhaps unwittingly became more intimate with his "partners." Roger Ebert points out that the films' argument is that conversation is better than sex.

Personally, I think the movie is about trying to find happiness with another person. Some Modest Mouse song lyrics come to mind. "And it's hard to be a human being/ And it's harder as anything else/ and I'm lonesome when you're around/ I'm never lonesome when I'm by myself" Graham finds it hard to be a human being and live in this human world full of values that he finds strange, confusing, and most importantly unfulfilling. What do you do when your ideology and needs don't mesh in the society you live within? How does one deal with feelings of loneliness in a society that spurns him? This movie is about one man's way.

James Spader does such an excellent job as this character. In fact, great acting all around by the entire cast and excellent writing and directing by Mr. Soderbergh. Go see this movie now!

Plot is slim, but film is emotionally driven...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 19 October 2006]

Intelligent, surprisingly enveloping movie is one that sneaked up on a lot of people in 1989, and has that effect on the unsuspecting today. A somewhat-frigid young woman becomes fascinated with her husband's friend, an emotionally confused man whose hobby is videotaping sexual conversations with women. The film takes about a quarter of an hour to kick in, yet once the character motivations become more clear it's quite an engrossing experience, a movie that unfolds rather like a novel. For those who stick with it, an intense drama peopled with some sordid characters who are nevertheless brilliantly portrayed by the cast. Andie MacDowell, as the wife who is so homespun she can't even swear, has rarely been so complex and affecting on film. **1/2 from ****

a terrific, slowly unfolding debut with sublime performances

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 4 July 2004]

Steven Soderbergh, as observed by other reviewers and critics, did take inspiration from the kinds of films Eric Rohmer's been making for decades. These kinds of films, as Sex, Lies, and Videotape is at its core, about people in morality crises, and how they get out of them or linger with how they act is the point. Some people may not like the film, therefore, as nothing incredibly outrageous or spectacular will occur. For all the attention Soderbergh received (Golden Palm, Independent Spirits, Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, immediate recognition), he's made a small film, and it's not as ambitious as some of his later, greater works like Out of Sight and Traffic. But as a revealing, intimate character study, with an often clever and controlled mis-en-scene, Soderbergh shows his skills were already honed at twenty-six.

Without good acting the film would be like a hopeless rendition of a foreign film, but with the four lead performances from McDowell, Gallagher, Gia Como, and Spader (his is most under-stated of the bunch for me) these are as fully realized characters as Soderbergh could get. They all must've taken something about the characters in the script, because for all the flaws and misconceptions and fears these characters carry, they are human. Even Gallagher's John, who's the conniving husband and lawyer, is recognizably as he is even when he's comparatively lesser than Graham and Ann. Only one side character, the barfly played by Steven Brill, gets the film to immediately halt with uncomfortable humor. But the rest of the film, loaded with innuendo (there's not one shot of nudity, similar to a Rohmer film like Chloe in the Afternoon, where the cover art of the film is rather misleading to those looking for a film with breasts and other parts) and involving drama, doesn't shake its foundations until maybe the last five to ten minutes. And when it does, it does not make the film a lost cause, at least for me. Begs to be seen again, though with maybe a year or so between viewings. A-

Whatever turns you on

[paul2001sw-1 · 6/10 · 24 February 2004]

Soderbergh's much praised debut, 'Sex, Lies and Videotape', is a wry, low-key, self-consciously knowing but somewhat stilted account of the sexual lives, and problems, of a group of four closely connected southern Americans. Having seen it twice, once on release and once recently, all I can say is that this particular piece of videotape does nothing much for me, as it tells a believable but uninteresting story. Fun for the big hair, otherwise a well-crafted but faintly pointless movie.

Intelligence supersedes emotion

[KnightsofNi11 · 9/10 · 15 May 2011]

Steven Soderbergh's debut film is voyeuristic, intense, gripping, and intriguing. It's the story of four people. Ann is a sexually repressed woman with an obsession for cleanliness and organization. Her husband, John, is a lawyer and he is cheating on his wife with her own sister, Cynthia. Ann lives oblivious to what is going on behind her back, despite her deteriorating sex life with John. But things really start to change Graham, an old friend of John's comes in town to visit. Graham is a strange man with an odd set of ideals who also has a fetish of filming women talk about their sexual fantasies. When these personalities conflict and intertwine things start to change dramatically and the tension rises all the way through Soderbergh's ingenious script and his quiet yet intensely focused direction of some fantastic performances.

sex, lies, and videotape is a very risky film which graphically examines sex with the utmost seriousness. In this film sex isn't made into a joke like American Pie, and it isn't turned into some sadistic and grotesque motif like Se7en or Silence of the Lambs. Sex is looked at under a very dramatic and very sincere scope which treats it like any mature and significant piece of subject matter. This is what sets sex, lies, and videotape apart from so many other films of its nature. It is serious, but doesn't give the feeling that it takes itself too seriously. It has to be serious and it just wouldn't feel right for this film to not be as sincere as it is.

The conversations Soderbergh has constructed here are something that need to be serious and need to be focused in order to get the artistic point across. And it is amazing how well the script is constructed. The dialouge feels incredibly real and it knows just when to pull out all of the dramatic stops. The script doesn't feel like it needs to be profoundly eloquent at all times. It is lighthearted and casual at the appropriate times, like when Graham first arrives and he, Ann, and John all sit around the dinner table casually discussing the past, the future, and life in general. But where the real genius comes in is when we realize that despite the present conversation being casual on the surface there is that constant underlying tension which escalates throughout the entire film until it all comes into fruition at the end of the film. The script has all these intelligible nuances that are absent in most "serious" films these days; something you don't really realize is missing until you see how well it can be done in a film like sex, lies, and videotape.

Now obviously this is a very character driven story and I will admit that it is hard to build an emotional connection with any of the characters. To call them imperfect would be a grotesque understatement. The four of them are incredibly flawed people who in retrospect, aren't really good people at all. They all have serious issues that affect their lives dramatically and create situations that are inescapably awful for everyone involved. But what the film lacks in emotion it makes up for in sheer intelligence. The film is so ingeniously crafted that a strong emotional connection to the characters would only cause a distraction to the film's clever craftsmanship.

It's a common misconception that you need to feel strong sympathy for your protagonists in order for a film to be good. sex, lies, and videotape doesn't intend for you to connect with these people. We are only supposed to be fascinated and awestruck at their twisted and bizarre lives. And so to me, this film does its job and it does it well. However, you do feel a strong connection to the film itself and you do want to know what will happen to these people because of the enthralling way this story is told. The absolute beautiful intensity of the script with draw you in so strongly that you won't want to miss a second of it. There comes a point where you begin to feel you must know what happens to these people because you must know how Mr. Soderbergh intends on wrapping this intriguing drama up.

sex, lies, and videotape is well written, well directed, and well acted so its already set up to be a great film. But then you add the pure ingenuity of the way the story is told and what a profound examination of human relationships it is and it is now a fantastic film. This isn't one of those films where you pick out particular scenes that you really liked or specific moments that really wowed you. The entire film cumulatively works together as one single wow moment that you just adore. This isn't a film that you will be strongly moved by and it won't bring you to tears, but it isn't trying to. It is a clever and sincere drama that treats mature adult subject matter the way it should be treated. Not as a joke, but as a basis for ingenuity.

I Want to Know Why You Are the Way You Are!

[spookyrat1 · 7/10 · 18 May 2019]

I have to admit this is one film that surprised me. I didn't really expect to like it, thinking it was going to be just another talkfest. But sure as the wind blows, as the story progressed, it dragged me in.

Andie MacDowell in pretty much her first leading role, really surprised me with an extremely compelling performance as the well-meaning wife caught in a dull almost sexless marriage , who at the film's outset, may well believe she is at fault, and requiring of psychiatric therapy. I've been a fan since way back with Greystoke, where her Jane was dubbed by Glenn Close. (Why I don't really know?). But there have always been critical musings concerning her alleged lack of acting ability. All I can say, is that there were instances in the second half of SL&T, where I thought she was mesmerising.

Laura San Giacomo plays her sassy, uninhibited bartender sister Cynthia, who is having a long-term affair with John, Ann's husband. Into the mix is introduced Graham, an old friend of John's whose own repressions and the means he has of relieving them, will end up casting plenty of light on the title's secrets and lies. James Spader gives an understated, but alluring performance as Graham, whose knack of attracting women to talk openly about their sexual secrets on videotape, will force all four lead characters to face truths about themselves and each other.

In his debut feature, writer/director Stephen Soderbergh openly reveals the creative hand he has consistently played over the years across a range of movie genres; the presentation of frank, realistic, smart dialogue. He was only 26 when he made this film and though I don't see this as being a "great movie" per se, it is easy after seeing it, to appreciate why Soderbergh is frequently regarded as the most influential independent director of late 20th century North American cinema.

Dated, and not necessarily in a good way

[mentalcritic · 5/10 · 29 June 2005]

In 1989, the idea that computers would be publicly networked into a vast library of information from which any information on any subject can be found was over the horizon. Films like Sex, Lies, And Videotape were therefore considered shocking, even perverted. Today, in this age where one can read stories on subject matters discussed by the characters in this film (or even that which the film is based around) with the click of a button, the premise is utterly passé. That it could have attracted so much attention in the US market in 1989 reveals how America's citizenry was more tightly repressed than Ann. The cast is minuscule by most standards, and there really are only four stars to speak of. The fact that half of them are about as charismatic as a puddle does not help. That I remember Earl T. Taylor's performance more clearly than James Spader's or Andie MacDowell's is not the best of signs. I am starting to believe that Jennifer Jason Leigh is glad she missed the opportunity to appear here.

I can handle films that consist of long conversations between several pairs of characters, and I can even handle films that consist of interview footage. What I cannot handle is a film partially comprised of interview footage that is so predictable and monotonous that one can guess what the character is going to say before the question is asked. It is not until about sixty-odd minutes into the film when Ann finds the evidence of Graham's affair with Cynthia that she has been challenged to produce that any spark of interest in the story is generated. By then, it is too late because most of the characters concerned are less than uncompelling. It is not the fault of the actors, as they seem perfectly competent. It is just that the characters they inhabit, the story they are telling, and the film's framing of both, have little to recommend them.

The music by Cliff Martinez attempts to inject some sliver of tension into the proceedings, but it instead succeeds in being annoying. If it could be more stilted or obvious, I do not know how. Clearly, the hearts of the composer and director were in the right place, but the result is about as interesting as a wet sock. If the film is trying to make the point that conversation is more satisfying than sex, then it has missed the mark. The conversations are flat and pointless, and the characters are as deep as a compact disc. I have never enjoyed a performance by Andie MacDowell, Groundhog Day notwithstanding. Even in Hudson Hawk, she manages to suck all the life and fun out of her character. Peter Gallagher is about as likable as a stomach ulcer, and James Spader's charisma vortex was pretty much confirmed thirteen years later in Secretary.

If the film does have a saving grace, it is the serpent-like performance from Laura San Giacomo. Her biography on the IMDb begins with "Fans and critics love Laura, she always gives a great performance", and this art-house production is no exception. She is beautiful enough to hook the men in the audience, unlike the woman playing her on-screen sister, and her performance is based around the knowledge of this fact. In every scene she plays, she steals the show. The fact that she cares enough about other people in her offscreen life, at least if the stories about her campaigning for "inclusive educational opportunities for all children" are to be believed, gives every character she portrays, including this one, a certain soul that those who occupy Sex, Lies, And Videotape with her lack. In essence, she is the heart of this film. No, let me rephrase that, she is the heart, brains, lungs, and many other things of a story whose cast of characters seem so utterly lacking it makes the attempts at pop psychology seem like they would be laughable if they were not so utterly sad.

Out of ten, I gave Sex, Lies, And Videotape a five. Those five points are for Laura San Giacomo alone. Having seen this film twice on occasions about five to ten years apart, I can honestly say I never saw what all the fuss was about. Judging from the fact that the film was pretty much tossed onto DVD like a piece of trash onto a garbage heap, I am guessing that the film-making community has similar feelings.

Iced-Tea, Anyone?

[Lee-107 · 14 August 2002]

Why does Graham prefer iced tea so much? He offers it to Ann when she visits him for the first time at his apartment. Does the same when Cynthia pays him a visit. When he and Ann are having their first real conversation in the restaurant there's a glass of iced tea next to him, while Ann has a glass of white wine. Besides being a probable leitmotif, it's something that, seems to me is a part of Graham's character. He comes to live in that town to get away, to find a closure to his past. He ends up providing closure to the lives of these three characters. Let's imagine a scenario sans Graham - a phase in the life of a woman whose husband is having an extra-marital affair with her sister. She's suspicious but he denies. She finds evidence to prove that he's having an affair with her sister and decides she's had it, she's leaving her husband. Do you think this might have been the conclusion of this scenario? I think not. As Ann rightly says to Graham, that she would have left her husband anyway, but the reason she's doing it now, is because of him. She thinks sex is overrated, her sister seems to believe in the opposite and here comes a man whose profession, for all practical purposes is having women talk about sex. Ann's therapist is a foil to Graham. While he dispenses his advice and listens patiently to Ann, Graham is the all important catalyst that helps her make a practical decision in her life. He also aids in her real sexual awakening. Before Graham, sex, for Ann was incidental. Now it takes on a different perspective.

One might say that in making women talk so intimately to him about sex, he sort of breaks the ice on a topic that is more or less socially tabooed. His is a presence that evokes trust in the most introverted of women, making them confide in him and by doing so have an almost cathartic experience. I think the iced tea motif of Graham's character fits in here. Beyond his trademark black-shirt, blue denim attire, it is the only other element related to him that is conspicuously stated. That's my conjecture anyway!

Needless to say, James Spader is superb as Graham. He manages to evoke many of the nuances of Graham's character by subtle, volatile facial expressions. Andie McDowell is also great as Ann. Hers is a really sensitive and touching performance. Peter Gallagher and Laura San Giacomo are both equally good. The music for this film is appropriately minimal and poignant. Great effort by Soderbergh, who I'm glad to hear has come back to his experimental film roots with his recent film 'Full Frontal'.

A bit underwhelming !!!

[avik-basu1889 · 6/10 · 22 July 2017]

On first viewing, I didn't really love it. There are aspects of it like the editing, James Spader's performance which though calm on the surface constantly hints at the darkness simmering beneath, some of the subtle camera work, etc. which I can admire. But overall I was somewhat underwhelmed. However my perception might change on subsequent viewings.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape

[jboothmillard · 9/10 · 20 July 2010]

I decided to watch it because I had heard the title, I saw it featured in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and then I found out it was the debut film from director Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, Ocean's Eleven). Basically Ann Bishop (Four Weddings and a Funeral's Golden Globe nominated Andie MacDowell) is married to John Mullany (While You Were Sleeping's Peter Gallagher), and he is having an affair with Ann's sister Cynthia Patrice Bishop (BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated Laura San Giacomo). Ann is the quiet type who is having therapy to express her concerns about things in the world, and even knowing her marriage is rocky she doesn't feel like she wants to have sex. When John's old college friend Graham Dalton (Secretary's James Spader) comes along, renting a flat, he makes friends with Ann, and Cynthia is very keen to meet him from Ann's description. Ann gets to know Graham more, and she finds his box of videotapes, and he confesses that they are all women being interviewed by him talking about sex, their experiences of it, and their fantasies. Ann is a bit freaked out by this, and she voices her concerns to Cynthia, but Cynthia still goes to see him, and finds out herself about the videotapes. She asks him to videotape her to talk about sex, and during this she also masturbates in front of him, which Ann is pretty shocked to her. When Ann finds an earring belonging to Cynthia while vacuuming, she confronts John about a possible affair, which he denies, but she knows he is lying. She goes to Graham for some comfort, and she decides to do a videotape herself, which he did advise not to based on the circumstances, but she does it anyway. John finds out about Graham filming his wife, and he does go over to punch him in the face, but then he watches Ann's videotape where she discusses her problems. There is also a point where she films him about why he likes to film women doing this, and after John leaves, Graham in anger breaks all his tapes. In the end, John is possibly fired from his job, Ann and Cynthia make up with each other, Ann as far as I know leaves John and goes with Graham. Also starring Ron Vawter as Therapist, Steven Brill as Barfly, Earl T. Taylor as Landlord and David Foil as John's Colleague. MacDowell is a good quiet and bored wife, Gallagher is a really good sneaky and manipulative husband, Giacomo is great as the sneaky and seductive sister, and Spader is really good as the quiet man with a very questionable hobby. From the title you would think it featured sex, but it doesn't need any, it is one of the great films that relies on the stars talking in detail about it, so in summation, it is a brilliant mainly dialogue carried drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. Very good!

An Icy Character Study

[blakiepeterson · 6/10 · 2 May 2015]

"Men learn to love the person they're attracted to, and women become more and more attracted to the person that they love," Graham Dalton (James Spader) says. He's heard the quote somewhere in the past, but he can't quite recall its origin. Was it from a misty romantic comedy? A philosophical book? Who cares: the characters in "sex, lies, and videotape" have certainly not been lucky enough in life to make that romantic sounding sentiment a reality, spending the next 99 minutes exploring differing levels of sexual dissatisfaction.

Most famous for starting the independent film movement back in 1989, sex, lies, and videotape is possibly one of those movies that thrives on its buzz but, as a standalone film, is underwhelming. Perhaps I am expecting too much. Should I not? The release poster flaunts an imposing amount of enticing quotes from glowing critical reviews, calling it things like "an edgy, intense comedy!" or "the season's smartest and funniest film!" Considering every headline ends in an exclamation point and uses labels like "comedy" and "funniest" for description, I guess I anticipated a callously absurd dialogue driven film, a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for the next generation.

sex, lies, and videotape turned out to be none of the things I thought it would be. To be fair, I should not be letting my expectations get in the way of my critique, but like the release of a new Prince album, there is an unavoidable hope that something game changing will be at store. But sometimes, hope isn't as strong as you'd like it to be, and the film, dare I say it, is overrated. It's intrigued with dialogue and likes to play with it, not quite unsentimental and not quite stilted. The film has the talky honesty of an Off-Broadway play that quakes in the escalating importance of conversation — but it doesn't tremble in the same way Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? did, which had such boiling dialogue that the characters became more interesting than any sort of story.

sex, lies, and videotape analyzes the sex lives of four characters: John (Peter Gallagher), his wife Ann (Andie MacDowell), her sister Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo), and John's old college friend, Graham. John is a fruitful yuppie who disrespects his marriage by sleeping with the abrasive Cynthia, who is irritated by her sister's lifelong, despicable goody-two-shoes personality. Ann takes comfort in the financially stable confines of her union; she has lost interest in sex, believing it to be unimportant in comparison to other types of human interaction. Graham, coming into town nine years after his last encounter with John, is impotent, receiving his erotic kicks by recording women talk about sex in front of a low-budgeted camera. By the end of the film, Cynthia and Ann will have partaken in Graham's eccentric means of arousal, changing their lives for the better.

Writing reviews for films like sex, lies, and videotape are the hardest kinds of reviews to write; the dialogue is good, the direction is good, the acting is good, the editing is good, etc., etc., etc., the only flaw lying in the fact that I plain and simply did not connect with the film emotionally. Many laud it for the same reasons that I didn't much enjoy it; the slice-of-life earnestness felt anticlimactic to me, while others appreciated its realism. I never felt like I knew Ann and Graham well enough to sympathize with their paralleling frigidity; their personal hardships didn't leave me feeling, well, anything.

But if I didn't savor sex, lies, and videotape as much as I would have liked to, there is still plenty of things it does well. Soderbergh's handling of the direction and screenplay is methodical and gradual, hugely mature for a filmmaker who was only 26 at the time. The voyeuristic attitude of the film is uncomfortable but perfectly watchable, the sexual issues between the characters contrasting with complementary dysfunction; the acting is similarly balanced, the actors all subtle but well-cast.

sex, lies, and videotape makes for a number of firsts. It was Steven Soderbergh's first feature in a versatile and impressive career. It was the first time the actors had been able to strut their acting abilities with such unbridled intensity. It was the film that made the independent film industry a force to be reckoned with. I didn't love it, but you might.

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This film resembles the expression "better than sex".

[wellgamertutos · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

The film itself is about sex and all its consequences as an instrument of pleasure, power, philosophical, etc. Here sex, be it the act or its simple verbalization, is the way for the self discovery of the four central characters, whether destroying or resuming social relations, sex is always the starting point for the development of the plot and the inhabitants of that particular world . What is striking is that in a movie about sex it is never explicit, which demonstrates the incredible genius of filmmaker Steven Soderbergh in his first feature ... All the technical aspects were orchestrated in the right measure, music, editing, sound, they are all examples of how to do something subtle and powerful, the highlight being the light design, the first sight for anyone who doubts the capacity of the film's cinematography, because it is not an explosion of colors, but it is subtly grand, better than adjectives and remembering the scene in which the two sisters confront each other at a distance, one looks like an angel wrapped in peaceful white, while the other is in an infernal red environment, this is how to develop characters.

It is worth mentioning the small cast, as everyone is stupendous and convincing in the role of people, that if under bad interpretations they would be false.

Didn't live up to the expectations

[davidec23 · 6/10 · 5 April 2013]

I heard a great deal about this movie from some of my friends and having seen some of Soderbergh's more recent works, I must say I was kind of let down. The story in itself is kind of interesting but the characters (and the actors) aren't. Most of the characters felt superficial to me ie. the successful lawyer having an affair, cheating sister, repressed wife etc. I just think Soderbergh should have built the characters a little more. Other than that it is quite a decent film. Especially the different perspectives this film gives you on infidelity and dishonesty (and fetishes I guess). Not a movie I would watch again though... I'll just stick to Soderbergh more recent work (Traffic was brilliant).

An astounding achievement in writing, directing and acting in a film that feels just as fresh in 2010

[catherine_stebbins · 10/10 · 22 July 2010]

Steven Soderbergh's debut feature from 1989 revolutionized the independent film movement making way for 1990's low-budget American film to flourish. It also won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes film festival. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the film is that it still feels as fresh today as it must have over 20 years ago. All of the performances feature actors at the top of their game with Andie McDowell and especially James Spader (who also took home the Best Actor Cannes prize playing against type) giving their best performances. The editing is incredible, condensing the different information we learn visually and audibly in a more effective manner. The characters are all really well fleshed out as well as their relationships. It manages to be about sex without showing any yet still maintaining the frankness any graphic sex would have achieved through its dialogue. The film uses a style that is more on the minimalist side of things with little music and a slow steady flow with only four major characters. It delves into the relationships between husband and wife, men and women, sisters' and more. While Steven Soderbergh has always stuck to his avant-garde tendencies with low-key projects in between the big budget ones, he should be writing a lot more than he does and experimenting with character driven material from his own hand more often. The interactions between everyone are carefully observed. The way he handles the climax of the film is ingenious. Traffic may be the more impressive achievement but this is easily my favorite Soderbergh film.

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great indie that launched Soderbergh

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 8 August 2014]

Ann Bishop-Mullany (Andie MacDowell) is a sexually repressed neurotic in therapy. Her husband John (Peter Gallagher) is having an affair with her sister Cynthia Patrice Bishop (Laura San Giacomo). His old friend Graham Dalton (James Spader) comes by for a visit. Graham likes to videotape his interviews of women talking about sex. He videotapes Cynthia leading to everyone re-examining their relationships.

Director Steven Soderbergh delivers a talkative slow boil that bubbles up emotional chaos. The frank verbal sexuality is quite a jolt. James Spader brings his usual slightly creepy character. The four differing personalities energizes this movie. Soderbergh lingers which gives the movie a great voyeuristic feel at times. The film is mesmerizing and is never dull.

Subtly Effective Winner Regarding Sexual Relations

[ASuiGeneris · 7/10 · 1 December 2017]

An understated winner.

Ostensibly, a breadwinner husband is cheating on his sexually repressed wife with her sister. A fourth character, an old college friend who has changed over the years, visits as a house guest for a few days. 2 guys, 2 girls. Friends, sisters, affairs.

Underneath what seems to be another typical romantic drama? A rare approach and perspective. This film is really about how conversation and words can be dramatically sexier than the physical mingling of the bodies. Soderbergh says, "Video is a way of distancing ourselves from people and events. We tend to think that we can experience things because we watched them on tape. For Graham this was an aspect of myself taken to an extreme measure. He needs the distance to feel free to react without anybody watching, which, I guess, is the definition of voyeurism, even though I think voyeurism has mostly negative connotations."

"I remember reading somewhere that men learn to love the person that they're attracted to, and that women become more and more attracted to the person that they love."

"I am telling you it's not any one thing that I can point to and say "That's why!" It doesn't work that way with people who have problems, Ann, it's not that neat, it's not that tidy! It's not a series of little boxes that you can line up and count. Things just don't happen that way."

The end of the film is, gratefully, not a bow tie fairy tale ending, but something realistic that makes a statement: The truth and communication, awkwardness and difficulties included, vanquishes lies and superficiality.

Yuppie garbage

[titanicflint · 2/10 · 24 January 2007]

It's films like this that give repulsive, self-centered yuppies a bad name! Pretentious, unfocused and boring it's beyond me how this film managed to get made in the first place. The fact that it managed to win all kinds of awards and even develop some kind of a cult following is even more baffling. For starters the plot(for lack of a better word) is totally incomprehensible, so I won't even go there. The characters are even worse. Not one of them is even half-way close to being sympathetic. A good psychiatrist wouldn't touch any of this crew with a 10-foot couch. Bluntly put they deserve each other. Nuff said. It was more than a decade after sitting through this before I would willingly watch an Andie McDowell movie. As for the rest of the cast well... I left the theater feeling that the filmmakers were having a big laugh at the audience's expense. Avoid this one like the plague! Unless you're having a bad case of insomnia.

What is it about James Spader...?

[cpg-2 · 14 April 2003]

I watched this movie when it came out years ago and loved it. I added it to my list of "must-see" movies that circulates among my family.

Then I saw Secretary on DVD just last week and recalled with the force of a cyclone exactly why James Spader is among my favorite character actors: he is different and real and....something elusively else.

I re-rented SL&V this weekend and watched it twice. He is subtle, a bit creepy, vulnerable, itchy...and something else...OUCH...really, painfully, oddly sexually attractive. I think I need to buy these two movies to watch in the wee hours.

My husband and I have had (SEMI-SPOILER!) long conversations about what we think went on after he turned off the camera with Ann.

So many of his other movies don't give Spader this range of opportunities (Secretary does, happily!), except maybe Less Than Zero (with another sexy-creepy favorite, Rob't Downey Jr).

It bears repeat watching, just for him.

On the DVD, the director's commentary with Soderberg, is insanely annoying and inane. Even in crucial scenes, he cannot stop talking about really inappropriate and uninteresting things.

See the movie, SKIP the commentary.