The Opposite of Sex
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| producer = [[Michael Besman]]<br>[[David Kirkpatrick]] |
| producer = [[Michael Besman]]<br>[[David Kirkpatrick]] |
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| writer = Don Roos |
| writer = Don Roos |
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| − | | starring = [[Christina Ricci]]<br>[[Martin Donovan]]<br>[[Lisa Kudrow]]<br>[[Lyle Lovett]]<br>[[Johnny Galecki]]<br>[[Ivan Sergei]]<br>[[Colin Ferguson]] |
+ | | starring = [[Christina Ricci]]<br>[[Martin Donovan]]<br>[[Lisa Kudrow]]<br>[[Lyle Lovett]]<br>[[Johnny Galecki]]<br>[[Ivan Sergei]]<br>[[Colin Ferguson (actor)|Colin Ferguson]] |
| music = [[Mason Daring]] |
| music = [[Mason Daring]] |
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| cinematography = [[Hubert Taczanowski]] |
| cinematography = [[Hubert Taczanowski]] |
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Revision as of 11:10, 17 December 2009
| The Opposite of Sex | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Don Roos |
| Produced by | Michael Besman David Kirkpatrick |
| Written by | Don Roos |
| Starring | Christina Ricci Martin Donovan Lisa Kudrow Lyle Lovett Johnny Galecki Ivan Sergei Colin Ferguson |
| Music by | Mason Daring |
| Cinematography | Hubert Taczanowski |
| Editing by | David Codron |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
| Release date(s) | May 22, 1998 (USA) |
| Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 Million |
The Opposite of Sex is a 1998 film written and directed by Don Roos. It stars Christina Ricci, Martin Donovan and Lisa Kudrow. The film marked departures for both Ricci and Kudrow, cast against type for the roles they were known for at the time (Ricci for adolescents in The Addams Family and Casper, Kudrow for being the resident airhead on Friends).
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Synopsis
The film is a black comedy, narrated by and centred around self absorbed, manipulative, cynical teenager Dede Truitt (Ricci), who runs away from home after her stepfather's funeral and moves in with her gay half-brother Bill, a teacher living in a conservative, suburban community in Indiana. Dede seduces Bill's young lover, Matt, then tricks him into believing she has got pregnant by him (in fact, the father of her child is her ex-boyfriend Randy Cates). She and Matt elope, leaving Bill and the uptight Lucia (Lisa Kudrow), the sister of Bill's (deceased) previous lover (Tom), to try and track them down and sort out the mess. In the meantime, Matt's "bit on the side," Jason Bock, attempts to blackmail Bill, claiming Bill sexually assaulted him while he was a student. Bill and Lucia track down Deedee and Matt, only to discover Deedee has stolen Tom's ashes and is holding them for ransom. Randy also finds Deedee, they inform Matt that they are taking the ashes and moving to have the baby elsewhere. They escape, but soon get into an argument which leads to Deedee accidentally shooting Randy. She and Matt escape to Canada, and Bill eventually finds them.
After the birth of Randy Jr, Deedee gives Tom's ashes to Bill, apologising for her actions in the past year. After a few months in prison, she moves back in with Bill, while Matt and Jason go traveling together, and Lucia marries her old friend Carl. Eventually, Deedee discovers Randy Jr would be better off alone with Bill (who is now dating Deedee's parole officer) and runs away. Narrating the ending, Deedee sarcastically concludes that sex is precisely the opposite of what people should want, leading as it does to kids, disease, or worst of all, relationships. At the end of the film, the vignettes of the various caring relationships among the characters shows the Opposite of superficial sexual gratification.
Cast
- Christina Ricci - Dede Truitt
- Martin Donovan - Bill Truitt
- Lisa Kudrow - Lucia De Lury
- Lyle Lovett - Carl Tippett
- Ivan Sergei - Matt Mateo
- Johnny Galecki - Jason Bock
- William Lee Scott - Randy Cates
- Colin Ferguson - Tom De Lury
Reception
For its North American run, The Opposite of Sex took in film rentals of $5,881,367. The opening weekend saw a per screen average of $20,477 for the 5 theaters showing it.
Janet Maslin in The New York Times called it a "gleefully acerbic comedy." Roger Ebert especially enjoyed the voice-over narration supplied in-character by Ricci, calling it "refreshing" and comparing it to Mystery Science Theater 3000:
When you've seen enough movies, alas, you can sense the gears laboriously turning, and you know with a sinking heart that there will be no surprises. The Deedee character subverts those expectations; she shoots the legs out from under the movie with perfectly timed zingers. I hate people who talk during movies, but if she were sitting behind me in the theater, saying all of this stuff, I'd want her to keep right on talking.
Overall, the film scored an 85% on the Rotten Tomatoes site.
Production
The film began in the aftermath of another film Don Roos had been working on that had shut down when the lead actress left it, putting Roos in house-bound funk.[1] He had a mental image of a woman throwing a chair into an open grave at a funeral and from that one image grew the script of The Opposite of Sex.[1]
Production began on June 8, 1997 with the filming of a library scene between Kudrow and Donovan that would ultimately be cut from the finished film.[1] The restaurant scene was shot at the closed Chasen's restaurant site[1] (Dan Bucatinsky, Roos' life-partner, makes a cameo during this scene as the waiter).
References
External links
- The Opposite of Sex at the Internet Movie Database
- Domestic Box Office for The Opposite of Sex from Box Office Mojo.
- The Opposite of Sex at Rotten Tomatoes
- Janet Maslin's review
- Roger Ebert's review
