The Opposite of Sex (1998)

Director:

Don Roos

Writer (WGA):

Don Roos (written by)

Release Date:

22 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be offended

Plot:

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Sexual | Gay Teacher | Hospital | Satirical | Manipulation

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Christina Ricci	...	Dede Truitt
Martin Donovan	...	Bill Truitt
Lisa Kudrow	...	Lucia DeLury
Lyle Lovett	...	Sheriff Carl Tippett
Johnny Galecki	...	Jason Bock
William Lee Scott	...	Randy 'One Ball' Cates
Ivan Sergei	...	Matt Mateo
Megan Blake	...	Bobette
Colin Ferguson	...	Tom DeLury
Dan Bucatinsky	...	Timothy
Chauncey Leopardi	...	Joe
Rodney Eastman	...	Ty
Heather Fairfield	...	Jennifer Oakes
Amy Atkins	...	TV Reporter
Leslie Grossman	...	Girl Student

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and sex related dialogue and sexuality.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Canada:18+ (Ontario) | Italy:VM14 (re-rating on appeal) | Singapore:R(A) (cut) | Iceland:12 | Philippines:R-18 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Italy:VM18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Rysher Entertainment

Goofs:

Factual errors: Indiana license plates are numbered by county. While the movie takes place in St. Joseph county (as indicated by patches on the sheriff's uniform), neither Lucia's nor Bill's plates match that county (or any neighboring ones).

Quotes:

Lucia: Matt, this is not your baby, OK? It's some other idiot's baby, probably with an eighth grade education and a trunk full of Waco pamphlets.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: Getting Connected: On the Set of 'Hanging Up' (#7.2)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

For Another Clown

Ha! An American comedy with bite - this is a good thing.

Dedee Truitt (the always good Christina Ricci) cannot stand her normal suburban life. So, one day, she ups and leaves to live with her half-brother, Bill (Martin Donovan) who has a huge house, courtesy of his ex-now-dead boyfriend. Well Dedee isn't the best of behaved girls and ends up sleeping with Bill's current boyfriend, Matt, and running off with him, pregnant with his child. Bill must try and track her down, aided by Lucia (Bill's dead lover's sister, played by Lisa Kudrow) and . events ensue. However, thankfully, they're not as we'd expect.

All the acting here is decent. Kudrow shows, again, that she's the one versatile cast member of `Friends'. Ricci is great as the sardonic young brat. She's unapologetic for her actions and, along with Kudrow, gets the best lines of the movie as they make biting satirical comments about society and themselves. Donovan is refreshingly non-caricature of gay men and everyone else plays their role with polish. No complaints here.

Main test in any comedy is the script. Fortunately `The Opposite of Sex' is refreshing and different. If you like `Ghost World', you'd be sure to enjoy this. The characters make pithy remarks and yet remain characters - they're not underdeveloped, or there as a one line joke (as you get in the teen-movie series). The plot does have some nice twists and turns with an absolutely perfect ending. It's all accompanied by Ricci's dry narrator role, which is hilarious at times in subverting the clichés of the genre. I didn't know how the movie ended and I guessed wrongly - that's very good. There's one hilarious `false ending' which had me going - only until Ricci scolded me for being an idiot through her voice over. There're loads of great little touches (such as a split scene panning), which just add little touches throughout and many great one liners (such as, offhand, `She's a living tabloid'). All is good here.

It's not a perfect movie but it is very good. There's little to complain about and the movie progresses along throughout nicely with enjoyable characters, good acting, and some fine lines. It probably isn't a repeated-see movie, due to the genre that it's in, but certainly worthy of a rental. I nearly always seem to score below the average IMDB mark, but here the movie deserves more - 8/10. Go see it.