The Sex Addict (2017)

I have to hand it to Amir Mo, the man who directed, wrote, and starred in this movie. Despite the many movies I watch every week, month, and year, there are very few that get the lowest possible rating. Most movies have something to save them from the very bottom of the barrel, be it a performance, one or two good scenes, or even just a good idea that isn't explored as well as it could have been. Not in this case though, oh no. The Sex Addict is one of the worst films I have ever seen. It's often painfully unfunny (not being hyperbolic here, one or two of these "jokes" made me roll my eyes so much that I started to get a dull ache behind them), it's impossible to care about any of the characters, and all of the blame can be shouldered by Mo.

What's it about? A young woman named Suzanna (Valerie Tosi) decides to record interviews and events with a sex addict (Rex, played by Mo) for her PhD dissertation. This also leads to her meeting Trudy (Danielle Gross), a prostitute who is a friend to Rex and won't sleep with him, and young Theodore (Caleb Thomas), a high school student roped into being an intern. And hilarity ensues. Well, hilarity would ensue if you stopped watching the movie and found something funnier. I could suggest 1000 alternatives but right now I just have to make it through to the end of this review.

There are two things obvious from the start of this movie. First, Mo has a few friends that he was able to rope into making cameo appearances (they may not be a-list names but I recognised a couple of them). Second, Mo thinks that the main idea, and his script, is hilarious. He would have to fling himself into the deepest pocket of some alternate universe to be more wrong about that second point.

Even for what should be viewed as a light comedy, this struggles to get the basics right. It's set up as a document being recorded by the cameraman who is accompanying Suzanna. Until it switches to a film being shot by someone else. And there are also a few shots from the POV of, well, a standard camera position. Rex is the main character, and it's his journey we are watching. Until it's not. In fact, he becomes the least important figure in the second half of the movie. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just adds to the feel of this all being a bit lacking in focus and ultimately pointless. The whole thing is one joke that Mo clearly finds funny, capped with a punchline that doesn't feel amusing for viewers, it just feels like a lazy middle finger from someone who couldn't be bothered to come up with a proper ending.

Some of the performances are bearable. Gross and Thomas do better than Mo and Tosi, and the interview segments with Mary Carey are okay. That's all I can think of to say, in an attempt to end this review on a note that doesn't feel too sour. But this is an awful, awful film and if you watch it then don't say that I didn't warn you. Because I have just warned you.

1/10