Sex Tape has a funny moment or two, but largely disappoints

It seems like every day, there’s another warning about the ills of a too-connected digital world. “We spend too much time on social media” … “There’s not enough face to face connections in the world” … “You have to be careful what you put on the Internet.” It’s that lesson director Jake Kasdan aims to lampoon in Sex Tape.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal play Annie and Jay, a couple who has found their post-children sex lives a little lacking compared to the halcyon days of their youth. After they experience several false starts during a night of special-private-time, the dangerous mixture of The Joy of Sex, an iPad and a bottle of tequila lead to the creation of a (3-hour!!) sex tape. But the “fun” doesn’t stop there … a fairly unrealistic plot contrivance finds that video uploaded to iPads that Jay has given everyone from his in-laws to the mailman. Shenanigans ensue as the couple try to track down each and every copy before anyone watches.

Sex Tape has its moments, but those moments are few and far between. Segal is credited as a writer, and you can almost hear a difference in the dialogue that you can assume he wrote. Kasdan comes from that Judd Apatow tree, having worked with him and Segal on Freaks and Geeks. There are bits that rise to the bar that Apatow has set, but mostly he fails.

Despite the film’s subject material, I was a little surprised that the rest of the movie was as risqué as it turned out to be. The language was coarse and the leads showed a little more skin than I expected (though Segal didn’t bare it all as he did in Forgetting Sarah Marshall). This is not a bad thing; while the film does deserve its R-rating, I had expected them to pull some punches. (Spoiler Alert: we got to see more of the titular tape than I expected, but don’t expect Zach & Miri Make a Porno levels of skin).

The flicks’ secondary cast does stand out. The Office’s Ellie Kemper and Children’s Hospital’s Nathan Corddry play Annie and Jay’s best friends, and they shine throughout. Rob Lowe’s character is a major departure from characters I’m used to seeing him play (and be sure not to miss his artwork). One of my favorite moments was supplied by Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, who is just one of several surprise cameos.

While I didn’t particularly love Sex Tape, I suspect it’s going to find its audience. The crowd at my screening was mostly into the goings on, and the critics I discussed the film with after enjoyed it more than I. I suspect that those who will seek out Sex Tape knowing it will be up their alley will find it largely entertaining. Unfortunately I couldn’t get past the repetitive jokes and obvious plot twists.