Group Sex
GROUP SEX (2010)
Starring Josh Cooke, Greg Grunberg, Odette Yustman, Rob Benedict, Kym Whitley, Tom Arnold, Henry Winkler, Lombardo Boyar, Kathrine Narducci, Greg Germann, Kurt Fuller, Lisa Lampanelli, Sandra Seeling, Madeleine Lindley and Sandra Taylor.
Screenplay by Lawrence Trilling and Greg Grunberg.
Directed by Lawrence Trilling.
Distributed by American World Pictures. 92 minutes. Rated R.
Is it possible to make a sweet romantic comedy about sex addiction?
Probably not, but the makers of Group Sex do their best to try.
And while it doesn’t really work, it’s not a horrible effort. If it had a bit more backing behind it I could see Ben Stiller and Kate Hudson trying to pull this kind of material off. It probably wouldn’t have worked for them either, but I could see the attempt being made.
For whatever problems Group Sex has, one positive is that the leads Josh Cooke (Better with You, Bachelor Party 2) and Odette Yustman (Cloverfield, You Again) are actually significantly more likable than Stiller and Hudson would have been.
The film has a premise which seems built for (and possibly by) a sex comedy focus group. Nice, sensitive bachelor Andy (Cooke) sees Vanessa, a gorgeous singer (Yustman) performing at open mike night at his local bar. He is so taken by the singer that he follows (stalks?) her to a local church, where, qu’elle horreur, the object of his affection turns out to be attending a twelve step program for sex addiction.
Therefore, this sweet and sensitive guy, in order to get to know the woman of his dreams, must pretend to be a horndog womanizer so that he can join the program. He has a perfect role model in his best friend/roommate/business partner Jerry (Greg Grunberg) – a hound of the first order. Ironically, the closer he gets to his love interest, the more she doesn’t trust him because she thinks incorrectly he is a ladies man and also assumes his slimeball friend is the sensitive guy who was jilted at the altar – a fictional background that is based upon Andy’s real life.
Can you say wacky complications?
Group Sex has a surprisingly strong supporting cast for such an obviously low budget comedy, including Yustman as the stunning love interest, Grunberg (Heroes) as the horny best friend, Greg Germann (Ally McBeal) and Kurt Fuller as business contacts and Tom Arnold, Lisa Lampanelli and Henry Winkler as some of the members of the Sex Anonymous group.
Once you get past the idea of the Fonz talking about masturbation and anal sex, it’s an interesting casting job.
You have to assume this reasonable level of talent is down to Grunberg, who co-wrote and co-produced the film as well as playing the sidekick. Grunberg plays the role with extreme good humor, after all his character is pretty repugnant the whole way through but remains rather funny.
Also, the central romance – though extremely unlikely – is kind of sweet and touching.
Then again, some of the sexaholic stuff just goes way too far – particularly a mousy loser (Rob Benedict) who is apparently physically unable to stop himself from masturbating in public and a flamboyant woman (Kym Whitley) who falls off the celibacy wagon with all of the subtlety of a rutting moose.
Then again, if subtlety is what you’re looking for, you probably wouldn’t be watching a movie called Group Sex.
However, if you are looking for a vaguely kinky romantic comedy with nothing but dumb laughs and just a touch of pathos on its mind, then you could do worse.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 3, 2010.