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Sex Is Comedy

Play trailer Poster for Sex Is Comedy R Released Jun 5, 2002 1h 34m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
69% Tomatometer 48 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A director (Anne Parillaud) attempts to shoot a sensitive love scene involving two actors (Grégoire Colin, Roxane Mesquida) who hate each other.

Critics Reviews

View All (48) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody New Yorker For Breillat, sex reveals the soul along with the body, baring the actors’ very sense of identity; the drama, based on her own directorial experiences, is both self-revealing and self-accusing. Feb 7, 2022 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Ruthe Stein San Francisco Chronicle Annoying, soporific and, despite its title, singularly humorless. Rated: 1/4 Dec 24, 2004 Full Review Keith H. Brown Eye for Film Rated: 3.5/5 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 3/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Jake Euker F5 (Wichita, KS) Takes an absurdist approach to a sophomoric subject and wrings real laughs from it; a terrific comedy about lust, filmmaking, and the human psyche at its most clandestine. Rated: 4.5/5 Jun 12, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (98) audience reviews
Audience Member This is really a lengthy sketch and as such ends with a touching scene between the female director and her actress. Otherwise it's a slog through the purported making of a movie that doesn't seem to have a point. There's very little about it that's even remotely funny, by the way. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Introspective Catherine Breillat film is neither very interesting nor very revelatory. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member This was a pleasant surprise. I have found many of Mdme Breillat's films tough going and have often failed to understand her purpose. This, however, was a fascinating study of the process of making a film that kept me entranced. The acting was excellent and the story may be her most accessible. From what I've read, it is somewhat autobiographical. But, as a study in the process, it ought to be required viewing in a film studies curriculum. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review justin w Catherine Breillat seems to have a ton to say in certain films (like, "Fat Girl," which this one plays off of and "The Sleeping Beauty")... but then can't come up with much of anything in others (like "Bluebeard"). There are some good scenes, but this one doesn't work... Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Fun character study of the perfectionist director. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member A director cajoles, threatens, berates, and befriends her actors in order to get them to perform the perfect sex scene. The shooting of a sex scene has always been a curiosity for me. To put something so personal and private on screen in front of everyone from one's fellow actors to the Teamsters rep to the gum-chewing, fanny-pack-wearing, high school dropout key grip speaks to what levels of courage actors must have to do such a job. But this film doesn't focus on the actors' journeys but the director's various tactics to get them to do the scene. I can see how this concept might make a good film, but not with this director. Jeanne is a myopic, self-centered bitch, and her little manipulations are thoroughly uninteresting. What is more, I had trouble seeing the real conflict in the film. It's true that the Actor was resisting Jeanne's appeals, but I didn't see any real rebellion like the clear refusal of Sarah Jessica Parker's character in <i>State and Main</i>. The actors in <i>Sex is Comedy</I> seem willing and professional even though they are naturally uncomfortable. Overall, despite its title, <i>Sex is Comedy</i> isn't funny or particularly insightful, and its focus is on the least interesting and least appealing character in the film. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Sex Is Comedy

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A director (Anne Parillaud) attempts to shoot a sensitive love scene involving two actors (Grégoire Colin, Roxane Mesquida) who hate each other.
Director
Catherine Breillat
Producer
Jean-François Lepetit
Screenwriter
Catherine Breillat
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
CB (Catherine Breillat) Films
Rating
R (Strong Sexual Content|Graphic Nudity and Dialogue)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 5, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$40.3K
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)