Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

James Spader was the creamiest of the crop, in the early 90s. His acting is very fluid, very natural, vulnerable, but stark in manner, as Graham in this film. There's something off about him, everyone can tell, but you want to know more about him and warm up to him, but you're a bit apprehensive.

"When did you finally see a penis?" -Graham Dalton

Graham's videos are a way for him to experience sexuality vicariously through women he comes into contact with, who share their sexual history with him, through very personal interviews that he accumulates over time by recording them on to video cassettes. He has created video sex-stories, a screen into that world which helps him to manage his personal problems. However, by him returning to his home town, his old friend John (Peter Gallagher) and his wife Ann (Andie MacDowell) seem to be troubling him. Cynthia
(Laura San Giacomo), the free spirit, if you prefer, who is Ann's sister, indulges Graham with his secret desires. And it somehow liberates Ann by knowing about it, because later she finds out that her husband has been cheating on her with her sister, and her life and her normal structure of things start to dismantle, and at this point Graham seems like a sweet and troubled person in need of her embrace.  Besides, she doesn't have too many people close to her in her life, her therapist seems like the only honest man she knows up until Graham appears, with his alternative lifestyle and his willingness to be open with her.

It's a very beautiful story, inside of something that is not so pleasant. The tender moments and vulnerability in certain scenes are remarkable. This movie has a lot of catharsis. The score of the movie is very well done. The director (Steven Soderbergh) wanted someone who could channel Brian Eno, and automatically I liked the music, unknowing that it's because of the likeness to Eno.

This film is very dialogue driven, some would say a film like this isn't being made anymore. It has a transparency, and a weight of reality for us as the viewer to experience. But it's not a dense film, it has more in it's subtleties and what's to uncover from these characters, mainly our interest is on Graham and his inner struggles. Which on the surface can present themselves in weird ways. Ann shakes Graham up in a scene that I really enjoyed and I felt. He doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore, so he's distanced himself from people and he only interacts in fragments. Recording videotapes of women is a way for him to not become emotionally involved with others, but to effectively get some sort of intimacy from them. Ann presents herself as something real for him, and you can see how years of being detached from people has made him vulnerable to her, though still being very withdrawn, he seems to open up to her in a mysterious way, like two beings having a strong connection and their guards weakening from this. The scene where Graham gives disclosure to Ann regarding his videotapes, you can see her becoming weakened from shock of such honesty, and she is unable to hold on to her glass and it starts tipping over to the side, and ultimately she spills some of her drink. She's uncomfortable with the topic of sex, she is repelled by this moment, though like Graham, she needs to be liberated and freed, and eventually, slowly and softly they do this for each other.

The ending is very sweet and cathartic. Graham and Ann sit outside his home and the gentle, somewhat somber music plays in the background, and the scene just seems like it's going to be recovery time for them both to share with each other. Ann says; "I think it's going to rain". Rain to me always signifies a cleansing and usually occurs after the ending of something. It's a release, say from a person you don't need in your life and an opening for something, or someone new to appear. And in their case it's both of these things, which makes for a very pleasant and healing time for them.

I can understand why so many people relate to this film, and for some reason Steven Soderbergh is a bit confused as to why, since he didn't intend on a lot of the scenes to have a deeper meaning to people, or to be profound as he said. I guess that's art though, it's a vehicle for other's interpretations, this is why this film to me is very important. It's not about the sex, or the cheating and the husband being a dirty, rotten liar (lawyer), it's about healing and change and wanting to be a better person, and finally finding the support you need to achieve this easier. It's a fantastic film.
  
Written by Fil Mouth