Sex Is Comedy

R

Released Jun 5, 2002

1h 34m

Comedy

Drama

List

69%

48 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

A director (Anne Parillaud) attempts to shoot a sensitive love scene involving two actors (Grégoire Colin, Roxane Mesquida) who hate each other.

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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

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Ruthe Stein

San Francisco Chronicle

Annoying, soporific and, despite its title, singularly humorless.

Rated: 1/4

Dec 24, 2004

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Keith H. Brown

Eye for Film

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 18, 2008

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Film Threat

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Introspective Catherine Breillat film is neither very interesting nor very revelatory.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Fun character study of the perfectionist director.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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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

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Catherine Breillat

Director

Anne Parillaud

Jeanne

Grégoire Colin

The Actor

Roxane Mesquida

The Actress

Ashley Wanninger

Leo, the first assistant

Dominique Colladant

Willy

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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
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)

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