Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie Review

Is this movie on "cloud" 9 or should it be dragged to the "trash?"

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 9, 2014

"Caught in a compromising position" used to mean grandma walking in on her granddaughter and boyfriend or the school principal walking in on a couple making out in the bathroom. Now, it's about millions watching HD video of the act online. Sex Tape takes the new "tradition" of couples being caught with their "hands" in the "cookie jar" to a whole new level: the accidental distribution of an intimate, spice-things-back-up sex-capde meant for the two of them but that winds up on the screens of pretty much everyone on their real-life "friends list" and even a few people who just so happen to catch it, anyway. All of the predictable hijinks follow: the awkward conversations between friends, blackmail, breaking and entering, dealing face-to-face with an Internet porn king, and keeping the truth from the kiddos by throwing their devices out the window. This is manufactured Comedy at its worst, a predictable, poorly conceived, and stale experience that wants to take risks but never really does anything interesting, instead fumbling through the same tired gags, from a rip-off of the Father of the Bride scene in which Steve Martin runs away from guard dogs to the seen-it-a-million-times "I gave everyone iPads without erasing my personal data first" gag. Wait, what? Really? Even the "new" is just head-scratching dumb.

Let's do this.

When Jay (Jason Segel) and Annie (Cameron Diaz) first met, nothing could stop the sex. They did it everywhere and at anytime, in both public and private, and they could never get enough. One day, Annie announces her pregnancy and the couple announces their wedding. Years later, they're married with two kids and no sex. They miss it, but the stress of family and the fatigue of a full life keeps them from getting it on like they once did. When Annie learns that her blog might be partnering with a major corporation, she sends the kids to her mother's house so she and Jay can celebrate like they once did. They decide to make a sex video of their attempt to try every position from The Joy of Sex. Afterwards, Jay realizes that the video has been distributed to a number of devices over the cloud, forcing the couple to make a frantic trip around town and collect the iPads before their secret gets out.

First, the movie's premise is incredibly awful. OK, the "sex tape escapes into the wild" part isn't bad, but what's insulting is the "free iPads with all of my personal information on them for everyone!" story propellant. It's "explained" that Jay is so darn good at making music playlists that he just gives everyone an iPad, still connected to his account, so they can enjoy his music. When he updates his playlist, they get theirs updated automatically, too, through the magic of clouds and syncing and all that good stuff (yeah, the same thing that recently got a lot of celebrity secrets "revealed"). Good to know he only knows people who share the exact same musical tastes as he, and who are completely trustworthy with that much personal data at their fingertips. At least the movie answers the question -- for a while there it looked like it was just going to skirt on by without so much as an acknowledgment that just maybe handing out devices with personal information might not be a great idea -- but it's an insulting answer, to say the least. Good on Jay for wanting to spread the love, bad on Jay for being so plot-friendly naive about the dangers of data sharing and spreading information around (there's a reason why things like Lifelock exist and reasons why credit card data is routinely stolen). Data just isn't secure, even under presumably "safe" circumstances. Welcome to the 2010's, Jay. Glad you learned your lesson, though something says that he'll still give out his information-laden devices willy-nilly after this. Now, back to the lame-o movie.

Even beyond its "duh" premise, the film doesn't get much right. The gags are by-and-large predictable, uncreative offshoots of the various scenarios that play out, most of which are limited to dull second and third acts in which the couple attempts to seek out whoever may have one of their iPads and get it back, always to predictably absurd results. The first act isn't any better. It's nothing but establishing a "sex, sex, sex" relationship and then switching to "no sex, no sex, no sex" and beating the audience over the head with each one, presumably to make it clear that the couple likes sex but doesn't have sex, so that a lengthy on-tape sex session makes sense. That's fine, but an entire act is just too much. The script is packed with one-liners that the scriptwriters obviously hoped would come to define the movie and become infused in popular culture, "the full Lincoln" being the most obnoxiously obvious. As far as the performances, Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel at least give it an honest go, but it's clear they're trying way too hard to walk an untenable line between audience-friendly (even under the "R" rating) and bedroom-realisitc antics while adding a side of armpit licking for good measure. The film finds its best moments in scenes featuring the ever-likable and immensely talented Jack Black, who plays an Internet porn magnate, and Harrison Holzer as Howard, a neighborhood kid in possession of a copy of the video and out to blackmail Jay for $25,000.

Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sex Tape's 1080p transfer sometimes looks great, sometimes look less-than-stellar. The image favors an evident warmth that goes downright hot in places, with skin tones appearing ablaze in some spots. Black crush is frequent, and several scenes favor a heavy-handed shade of deep purple instead. Details range from flat and pasty to excellent. Those warmer scenes tend to look a bit messy, but the image produces good, clean, accurate details across the board in brightly-lit situations. The HD video source, then, seems all over the map. The image never looks awful, but its problems -- particularly those unsightly black levels -- keep it from the usual excellence seen in Sony titles.

Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sex Tape's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is casual but effective. Unsurprisingly, it's dominated by music and dialogue, both of which are delivered clearly and adequately. Music is nicely spaced across the front and plays with a gentle but obvious surround support structure. Clarity satisfies and basic details throughout the range are delivered with good balance and accuracy. Dialogue delivery is accurate and center-focused, too. There's not much in the way of major action elements or environmental ambience. An aggressive dog, a few crashes, and some light background elements define the minor track details. What's here is fine; just don't expect this track to set the world on fire.

Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sex Tape contains several featurettes, deleted scenes, and more. A UV digital copy code is included in the case.

• Bloopers (1080p, 5:17): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p): Rosie (4:56), The Mailman (0:44), and Bi-Athlete (0:47).
• Line-O-Rama (1080p, 4:55): Choice dialogue from the film.
• Capturing the Moment (1080p, 5:48): A brief discussion of the bond between Director Jake Kasdan and Actors Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, which allows for a greater "intimacy" in the film. The piece also looks at the film's raunchiness, cast chemistry, shooting the sex scenes, and more.
• Romance Reboot with Dr. Jenn Berman (1080p, 9:56): The licensed Psychotherapist, VH1 television host, and author discusses the parallels between the film and real life and the realities of sex in the 21st century. The male and female sexual response, dealing with conflict, methods for enhancing relationships, and more are also studied.
• Meet Hank Rosenbaum (1080p, 2:27): The fictional Entrepreneur/Philanthropist/Art Enthusiast shares his thoughts on a few unique Disney-inspired paintings from his collection.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

Sex Tape Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Normally, it's the Horror genre in which main characters make stupid, life-altering decisions for the convenience of plot advancement. Sex Tape is pretty frightening, so the old adage holds true. This is a bad movie all around, one that's befuddling in its lack of humor, disappointing in its lack of easygoing charm, and almost insulting in its predictability and bland character choices and actions. The leads at least show a little enthusiasm, and there are a couple of fun supporting performances, but Sex Tape is otherwise a train wreck of a movie that could have been so much more. Sony's Blu-ray release features passably bland video, fine audio, and a few supplements. Skip it.