Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Prague Post

Review: Sleeping With Other People

Category: Cinema

Published: 18 December 2015

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Jason Sudeikis Alison Brie discuss anatomy in 'Sleeping With Other People.' Courtesy photo

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Supposed romantic comedy doesn't deliver on its basic promises

You need two basic ingredients for a romantic comedy: romance and comedy. Sleeping With Other People was very little of either, and not that much “sleeping” either — except if you count the whole film being a total snoozefest.

The premise itself is pretty tired. Two former college friends meet and, despite being attracted to each other, decide not to have sex. They have a safeword if they get too close to the topic, as if their friendship were a BDSM relationship.

Rating: **
Directed by Leslye Headland
With Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet

This sort of separate beds plot used to be popular in the 1930s and ’40s with films such as It Happened One Night. The moral censorship standards imposed on filmmakers at that time forced such plots as a way to get around depicting sexual relationships. That sort of censorship ended in the 1950s, making plots like this unnecessary.

The characters in Sleeping With Other People simply are not real enough to involve the audience. The main male character, Jake, played by Jason Sudeikis, has helped build up some sort of tech company with his friend Xander (Jason Mantzoukas). We never see them working, although they are at the office a few times. The reason we never see them working is because writer/director Leslye Headland doesn’t have a clue what they do.

The platonic love interest is Elaine (Alison Brie), and she makes a big deal out of pointing out she likes to be called Lainey, perhaps the most unattractive of nicknames. She is kindergarten teacher and that is at least a bit believable. But it doesn't make her interesting.

The start of the plot hinges on a support group meeting for either "love addiction" or "sex addiction." They are two quite different things, but the film uses the terms interchangeably. Lainey doesn't belong in either group, but it is necessary for the plot so the two college friends can "meet cute," as is required in a romantic comedy. The sex/love addicts group isn't really cute though. It is cringe worthy.

The two leads take drugs and dance at a children's party. Courtesy photo

In one of the most awkward and unbelievable scenes in this film, or really any recent film, Lainey is also trying to get into medical school, yet is completely surprised when Jake explains the basics of female anatomy to her. Another major character is a gynecologist, and one might think the subject came up some time ago.

Jake is depicted as a bit of a ladies’ man, despite his platonic relationship with Lainey. How and where he meets the women, and what they see in him, is never explained — again because the writer simply doesn’t know.

The most honest speech in the whole film comes from Xander, the business partner of Jake, who tells Jake that he is in fact too creepy to invite to a party because of how he chases after women.

The upshot of this one honest moment is Jake and Lainey taking drugs and going to a children's birthday party higher than kites. It is meant to be funny for some undisclosed reason.

Jake also shamelessly hits on his new female boss — an utterly wasted Amanda Peet — after she says plainly that she is not interested. This is no longer considered harmless office flirting, but it needs to be there to boost the thin plot and force Jake into a dilemma.

With the title Sleeping With Other People, one might at least expect some torrid sex scenes. The few scenes that are in the film are pretty much played for comedy. People keeping their clothes on for the most part during sex, with one brief exception. But even that is shot from unrevealing angles, So if you are hoping this film, with is rated R for restricted in the US, will at least deliver some nudity, you are hoping in vain.

There is a climax to the film, but it is unfortunately ripped off from an older and much better film. The characters telegraph that part of the plot fairly early on, so if you catch the reference you can pack up your popcorn and go home early. It is all the film has to offer.

The funniest scene, though, is while the credits are rolling, with Xander again coming to the rescue. If you made it this far, by all means stay. You earned the solitary laugh.

It is a shame the minor characters couldn’t have their own film. It would be much more interesting without the poorly conceived leads and their 1930s plot.

Red band trailer (graphic language):