Product Description: SEX AND DEATH 101 (DVD MOVIE)
Amazon.com: Sex and Death 101 presents an intriguing premise: If you were given a list of all the people you were destined to sleep with, would you give up what you currently have to fulfill that prophecy? That's exactly what happens to Roderick Blank (Simon Baker, The Devil Wears Prada, The Mentalist), who is engaged to a beautiful woman. But when he receives an anonymous message stating that he will sleep with 101 women in his lifetime--and she is but 29th on the list--he throws his life into turmoil. A dark comedy from Daniel Waters, who also penned the superb Heathers, Sex and Death 101 doesn't have the effortless flow of Waters' breakthrough film. His muse Winona Ryder returns as a disturbed woman with a jones for Roderick and a penchant for the darker side of life. But she is given too little to do to make much of an impact on the meandering plot. Much of the dialogue does little to help the matter. "Life is a lot like death," Roderick says. "It happens to everyone, whether they like it or not." The problem with Sex and Death 101 is that the line between life and death often isn't discernible. Baker and Ryder have both fared better in stronger projects. The bright spot in this movie is Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life), who plays Roderick's put upon assistant Trixie. She proves to be more interesting and endearing than the leads, and adds wry humor to what could've been a thankless role. --Jae-Ha Kim
Deep Thought For Some, Entertainment For Others When a mysterious e-mail provides the handsome, successful Roderick Blank with a list of every woman he's ever slept with and every woman he ever will sleep with, it turns his life upside down, and, at first, he enjoys it immensely. However, when it starts to turn him into a sex addict, Roderick attempts to take control and is soon thrown a heartbreaking curve ball that sends him to a very dark place. A lifetime of dating and sex in a single year takes Roderick on a physical, mental, and emotional rollercoaster ride as he is forced to grow from his experiences and ultimately elude one most dangerous temptress who could be his last shot at whatever it is he is trying to find or figure out.
A thoughtful, dark, very adult comedy/drama with slightly noticeable but fully essential sci-fi elements from the writer and director of the '80's cult-classic "Heathers", Daniel Waters, "Sex and Death 101" is very much a film about sex (though the dialogue is more graphic than the visuals, in my opinion anyway) and not for the prude audience member. It observes one supposedly average man (hmm...) in a process of learning to be a worthy counterpart to... whoever he ends up with, if anyone. The film is a great piece of entertainment, as it has a fine cast and never really gets boring (though maybe pushes it now and then; after all, it has a repeating plot point: meeting women and engaging in sex with them), though it intends to be rather thoughtful/inspirational I think, and in that regard I think it will only work for a section of its audience. Most of the film's introspective qualities are aimed at the serial dater, one-night stand aficionado, sex addict, whatever, but, of course, come from the Hollywoodland mindset, where people seem to think everyone falls into that category (and the public sadly buys into it). There's this long-standing idea around that all normal males spend their first 30 to... whenever they get married years attempting to mount anything that moves, and it's widely believed because, A. People who ARE that way like to say everyone is that way, and B. It's the way women think all men are (but that's just because those are the only kind of men they'll date). So, if you are one of the rare breed who doesn't buy that every guy lives his life on a quest to cut as many notches into his bedpost as possible, or that everyone in real life has engaged in meaningless fast-food sex at one time in their life or other, this one will probably stop at "entertainment value" for you. Luckily, it succeeds in that arena enough that it should work for anyone.
The film's cast is one of its best qualities, and Simon Baker, whom I know best from George A. Romero's "Land of the Dead", a great film, is truly the star here as charmingly screwed-up Roderick Blank, but there is a fine roster of leading ladies too, the most memorable being the beautiful Leslie Bibb, who gives Roderick his first experience with "the friend zone" (Leslie reminds me of Tuesday Weld as Thalia Menninger here, she even looks like her; but I must say that the constantly pushed by the media and this character idea of a plutonic male/female friendship is entirely idealistic and impossible, a pure female fantasy, and that doesn't mean it's always about sex either), not to mention Winona Ryder, whose path doesn't even cross with the star's until close to the end of the picture. The gorgeous Amanda Walsh makes an appearance in the film that I feel like mentioning too (she's so cute, has the face of TinkerBell), but unfortunately isn't even onscreen for a full minute. I'll also throw in a mention of Patton Oswalt, who you'll possibly recognize as the voice of Remy in "Ratatouille". He has a small recurring part in the film as some great comic relief playing one of the guys tied in with the source of "the list", but I don't want to give too much away about that.
The writer/director of the film, Daniel Waters, is most closely associated here with the movie "Heathers". For the record, and I'm sure few will agree with me, despite the fact that I don't agree with him in all of his ideas presented in this movie (no doubt, most people probably WOULD agree with him on them rather than with me), I think "Sex and Death 101" is the better film. I used to enjoy "Heathers" back in the day, though the target audience was more my older sister's generation, but when I revisited the film sometime last year, I found it to be rather dated and unfunny. I don't think this one will seem so dated. "Sex and Death 101" is a fascinating ride. I disagree that people in general are as lascivious as Hollywood tends to present them (not that they don't pretend to be, and not that most folks in Hollywood aren't that way), I don't buy that as many people as film and TV tells us are having sex whenever they take a notion to, wherever they happen to be, with whomever they see that's halfway attractive (though probably more are nowadays since they've been seeing it on TV the past 30 years), but it's still fun to watch what one guy did when he came across a very strange list. The movie was full of surprises and had a good cast, and that kept it interesting. It's well worth checking out at least once if movies about sex don't scare you away. The DVD provides the trailer, a behind the scenes featurette, and a very informative director commentary (which teases us by talking about deleted scenes at one point that didn't actually make it into the extras in the end). If you're a fan of any of the actors in Sex and Death 101, you'll probably want to pick it up, though the only one who is truly in it from beginning to end is Simon Baker (well, and The Facts of Life's Mindy Cohn as his assistant, Trixie). If not, you should probably see it before buying.
Works by Dan Waters have, for me, vacillated between the "love it" "hate it" extremes. Waters re-teams with Ryder for another successful stab at quirky dark sexually provocative comedy with what star Mindy Cohn describes as "Dan Waters love letter to women" - SEX AND DEATH 101. And I'll say it right now, the main reasons to see this film are not because you are a Waters cultist or a Ryder fan, or because "sexually provocative comedy" stimulates your curiosity or because you love lusting after Simon Baker; no, the two reasons to see this film are Patton Oswald and Mindy Cohn who breathe life and laughter into what, without them, would be a film sitting on the 99 cent rental shelf
Simon Barker takes the lead in this amusing romp about a man who mysteriously receives a list of his future lovers. Winona Ryder assists but probably won't regard this as the most glorious moment in her career. The script is relatively tight and the jokes are fairly funny. This film would certainly make for a good choice for a night out at the cinema. Some critics seem to regard this film as being deeper than it really is with talk of `Feminist Crusades against Sexist Men' but in truth, the only moment of real debate is whether it would be good or bad to receive such a list.
No-one is going to change their view of men or women and Waters has no ambition to be didactic or educate us. His aim is to make a funny film about sex - and death. He succeeds and deserves the plaudits that come his way from the public who clearly are more in touch with him than some critics.
Winona Ryder is in it and that has to Count for Something I had high hopes for this movie. Winona Ryder's in it, after all. But those hopes were quickly dashed once I got into this corny and very stupid movie. Our hero, a rather studly guy played by Simon Baker, gets an e-mail with the names of all the girls he's been to bed with and all the ones he is going to bed. However, he's just about to tie the knot. Now if you were a stud would you get married, if you all of a sudden knew you were going to bed a gaggle of gals in the very near future?
Winona plays Death Nell, a goth girl who goes around putting guys to sleep. She give them a potion and they go into a coma. Well, she inadvertently kills one. Naturally she's the last girl on the list and Mr. Stud doesn't want to go there, but can he help himself, can he quit taking good looking hotties to bed, even if he wants to? That is the question and that question is so silly that you might want to give this movie a pass. Still, it didn't suck, so if you're in the video store and can't decide what to get, Winona Ryder is in the movie and that has to account for something.
A few moments of hilarity, even with the contrived plot. This one's clearly targeted at a male audience, as I can't see how much enjoyment of female viewer would get out of our male character conquering 101 members of the opposite sex. The premise is a very strange one, with our main lead getting plucked by some futuristic, secret office who presents him with a list of all the females he has ever slept with, and the many more he will end up sleeping with. We never fully understand how or why this is happening, but it puts the movie into one big set up for crude joke after crude joke of how our lead gets hooked up with all the girls on his list. It features some very funny scenarios, while many more end up rather awkward and flat.
The best moments in the film are when our main character settles in to the 101st name on the list, Winona Ryder, a near-serial killer of sorts. I say near serial killer, as she merely drugs her victims and puts them into comas. These scenes feature a glimpse of how good the movie could have been, if the first 75% of the film was simply rewritten.
I'd say if you're of the male DVD viewing variety, you may find a hilarious moment or two in this male having sex with many women romp. If you're a female viewer, I'd strongly caution you stay away from this clearly sexist farce.
Definitely not the typical romantic comedy Sex and Death 101 was a very entertaining, and refreshingly different kind of romantic comedy. The basic premise is this: a man receives a list of 101 different women. The first 29 are all of the women he's ever slept with, and the remainder is all of the women he will sleep with in the future. Naturally this list turns Roderick (played by Simon Baker) from a committed fiancé into a player extraordinaire, since all he has to do is check the list to know which ladies he'll be going home with. This seemingly unending parade of (mostly) young (mostly) women is not all it's cracked up to be. A mysterious female serial killer called Death Nell (Winona Ryder) is taking out sexual predators one at a time, and Roderick realizes he has a rendezvous with death when he learns that Death Nell's real name is number 101 on his list.
This unusual dark comedy, written by Daniel Walters (Heathers) combines elements of The Matrix and Stranger Than Fiction with the typical sex romp comedy style, and I think the combination works pretty well. It's a quirky, sexy, and (mostly) unpredictable movie with a surprisingly strong supporting cast. Patton Oswalt is completely charming as one of the somber oracle's underlings, and believe it or not, Mindy Cohn (yes, from the Facts of Life) totally steals the show as Roderick's smart-mouthed lesbian secretary.
Sex and Death 101 isn't for everyone, but it makes a very strong "date night compromise movie". There's enough romantic/relationship stuff going on for the ladies, and enough sexual content and lowbrow humor (thanks in large part to Oswalt's character) to keep the guys entertained. It's laugh out loud funny at times, occasionally disturbing, and has plenty of eye candy for everyone. If it wasn't for the total cop-out ending, I'd easily give this movie a 4-star rating.
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