I Want Your Sex – Official Trailer | Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Charli XCX | In Theaters July 31<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nPOSITIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of the last twelve years since Gregg Araki’s last movie, Hollywood and the world have become more conservative with sexual discussion and depiction, where most can’t talk openly about it, let alone pursue it with any kind of stimulating adventurism, and considering Araki has already carved out a deserved reputation for his unapologetically fearless depiction of queer cinema, it comes as no surprise that I Want Your Sex is a fitting return to form for the experimental visionary, and one packed to the brim with the stacked social commentary since his last creative effort. While the film certainly represents a more mature and restrained side to Araki’s direction than some of his most aggressive projects, its meticulously crafted dialogue does a brilliant job of not only fleshing out these characters with conversations that absorb as many evidentially glaring tendencies, without the need to feel subjectively on-the-nose or heavy handed, but also in speaking directly to the audience in articulating sex as this naturally instinctual need for survival, and as a film that takes every ample opportunity to utilize every square inch of its sought-after R-rating, the film is a manically supercharged and nearly absurdist exploration that uncovers such refreshing honesty and transparency towards its touchy subject matter, where the commitment towards captivation is matched seamlessly by a stellar ensemble each dedicating themselves endlessly to the movie’s distinct vision. As a result, Wilde and Hoffman implement expansively versatile sides to their respective acting that transform them emotionally before our very eyes, with Wilde evoking enough confidence and assertiveness to both literally and figuratively dominate any room that she invades so nonchalantly, and Hoffman tenderly tickling audience interpretation with a timidly up tight demeanor while among the presence of his imposing sexy boss, combining for a sensational dynamic that finds chemistry in the most unconventionally personal places, while cementing what is undeniably the most commanding performances of each actor’s careers. While Wilde and Hoffman are a devilishly delicious delight who materialize momentum in the depths of their ravenous physical interactions, they are backed by stoically solid turns from Chase Sui Wonders, who appraises such awkward resentment as a result of her character’s absent dating life, and Mason Gooding, whose impeccable comedic timing in the clutches of a comfortably gay character allow him effective experimenting in allowing such a proudly undeterred character to feel grounded with believability, helping the script to evade the lack of expansive evolving in character outlines that are admittedly a bit one-dimensional. Aside from radiant performances and thought-provoking conversations thematically, the film is also blessed by Araki’s frenzied flare for conveying insight into the introspection of his characters, utilizing everything from exaggerated animation outlining to clever camera tricks, in order to seamlessly blur the line between fantasy and reality from the vantage of those involved. Some of these techniques will honestly be quite jarringly distracting for those in the audience unimpressed by flashy visuals and the vulnerable realities of a dominant and submissive relationship, but they helped enact an exclamation point on intentional humor in ways that not only landed consistently for me roughly sixty percent of the time, but also speaks wonders in the cleverly chaotic ways that Araki immerses us in the internalized anguish and humiliation of those involved, allowing the film to never lose sight of its independent origins in advantageously indulging execution. Last but certainly not least, the film also has a tremendous eye for detail in everything from the meaningful merit of its costume designs conveying psychological insight into the power dynamics of its characters, as well as meticulous callbacks to some of the most influential films in erotic cinema. On the former, duo costume designers Monica Chamberlain and Arianne Phillips stitch a seamless shut out that establishes precedent in these character personalities as quickly as the opening shot, where Erika thrives in revealing three-piece leather suits to Elliot’s faded button ups and jeans, that equally convey the financial urgency of his bleak desperation, and while each of their wardrobes evolve faithfully in the developments of the storytelling, matching the personality swings of the characters accordingly, the lady tailors never skimp on eye-fetching stylistic allure of the most all-encompassing ideology, leaving fashion feeling like a character of its own in a movie contextually not as focused intently on stealing attention towards it. As for the many homages that clearly inspire Araki’s distinct vision, they’re scattered organically in ways that might feel glaringly evident to experienced moviegoers, but fails to halt the scene’s progress directly in its tracks, in turn unloading a connective language to the audience in ways that transcend his aforementioned urgency for sexual intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEGATIVES<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everything goes off smoothly to the movie’s integrity, as a meager 85-minute runtime sees most of the opening act fighting an uphill battle in pursuing these initial interactions patiently, instead setting up the entirety of the plot construct within the confines of the movie’s opening fifteen minutes, with such minimal characterization failing to attain a meaningful grasp on the empathetic value of these characters. To say that Araki rushes through some vital set-ups is a crucial understatement, as character motivations are essentially absolved immediately, in order to get to the meat and potatoes of the storytelling, and while the pacing eventually settles itself once it introduces conductive subplots such as the teasing of Elliot’s subdued romance to Wonders’ Apple, or Tracy’s extracurricular activities, it’s still a struggle to settle in smoothly with a vested interest, forcing my enticement to rely heavily on the consistency of the comedy, which thankfully fires on all cylinders to give Araki his firmest tonal foundation. For my money, an extra fifteen minutes could’ve gone a long way towards producing some much-needed patience for those initialized beats, allowing for more opportunity to iron out some of those vital subplots that go unpursued until they’re absolutely required. Aside from a condensed version of an opening act, the script also takes some highly ambitious swings with its climax, both tonally and creatively, that failed to send me home with rewarding feelings, such as a bombshell development that is previously spoiled, or a tacked-on ending resolution that feels desperate to send audiences home with positive feelings. On the former, Araki unfortunately evokes an forward introduction that reveals the climax completely out of context, an hour before it materializes on-screen, eviscerating any semblance of situational surprise from the impact of the discovery, and the latter, while erroring on the padded side of caution for the abundance of stakes that the movie came to surmise for itself, leaves more about the resolution unanswered and unfulfilled than previously expecting, where the consequences of the original ending would’ve elicited a devastating gut-punch that made it memorable, instead opting for happy endings aplenty to such irresponsible and reckless characters. Finally, while the performances are quite exceptional in bringing these characters to life, the characterization itself, as previously mentioned, is quite flat and anemic, leaving so many of these characters defined by one-dimensionality that fails to progress. Such examples are paid to Elliot’s vanilla girlfriend, Minerva, and Daveed Diggs Vikktor, who each portray such vital roles in the dynamics alongside bigger characters, but are rewarded with little in the way of subtle nuance or attentive incorporation, leaving their periodic appearances feeling like A cartoonish afterthought rather than an advantageous opportunity to allow these actors to bring them to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OVERALL
I Want Your Sex not only represents a provocatively stirring sex comedy that approaches its sensitive subject matter with enough fearlessness to make sailors blush, but also an encapsulating return for Gregg Araki, whose diabolical deviousness brings a much-needed voice back to the forefront of queer cinema. While the film’s exploration of sexual stimulation occasionally feels sidetracked by a rushed opening act and tacked-on climax that squanders the subversiveness of the director’s best films, the endlessly committed performances of Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman, as well as substantially stunning production values, keeps it performing under pressure, proving that when Araki is rocking don’t come knocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Grade: 6.9 or C+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Directed by Gregg Araki Starring – Olivia Wilde, Cooper Hoffman, Chase Sui Wonders The Plot – When fresh-faced Elliot (Hoffman) lands an exciting job for renowned artist, icon and provocateur Erika Tracy (Wilde), his fantasies come true as Erika taps him to become her sexual muse. But Elliot soon finds himself out of his depth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9796,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9794\/revisions\/9796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilmfreak.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}