Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cat.no: CDR 96866

Cert: 18

Running time: 97 minutes

Year: 1998

Pressing: 1999

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 28 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)

Languages: English, German

Subtitles: 15 different languages available

Widescreen: 1.77:1 (16:9)

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer, Filmographies, Director's Commentary, Deleted Scenes.

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Director:

Don Roos

Producers:

David Kirkpatrick and Michael Besmen

Screenplay:

Don Roos

Music:

Mason Daring

Cast:

Dedee Truitt: Christina Ricci (The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Buffalo 66, Casper, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Ice Storm, Mermaids)
Bill Truitt: Martin Donovan (Amateur, Hollow Reed, Living Out Loud, Malcolm X, The Portrait of a Lady, Trust)
Lucia Delury: Lisa Kudrow (Clockwatchers, Mother, Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, TV: Friends)
Sheriff Carl Tippett: Lyle Lovett (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Player, Pret-a-Porter, Short Cuts)
Matt Mateo: Ivan Sergei (Gunfighter's Moon, If Someone Had Known, Violent Tradition)

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As soon as Dedee arrives at Bill's house, she makes a play for Matt and becomes pregnant, but does the child belong to him, her late step-father or a punk kid called Randy (William Lee Scott) ? Matt and Dedee take off with all of Bill's savings and then Bill gets another surprise as one of his old pupils and another of Matt's lovers, Jason (Johnny Galecki), turns up allegeding an assault charge on Bill, causing him to be suspended from school.

So, it all sounds a bit complex as the storylines entwine, but there's a running commentary on the proceedings from Dedee. Ricci has clearly come of age in this role as can be seen from the shot on the front cover and looks good throughout most of the film. Kudrow plays as a brunette in this film, but occasionally has her "Phoebe" moments, for any Friends fans watching. Sergei plays his part as Matt just as spaced-out as you'd expect someone like Benecio Del Toro to play a role and there are bland performances from Donovan and musician Lyle Lovett, who co-starred with Ricci in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as the local Sheriff.

The picture seems to escape any artifact problems, but has a level of grain that mars the film throughout. It doesn't make it completely unwatchable, but a little more effort could have improved matters greatly. The film is presented in 16:9 (1.77:1) which is close to its original widescreen ratio of 1.85:1 which is what the back of the box claims. It is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions - thus allowing for 33% higher resolution - and the average bitrate is a fine 5.3 Mb/s, peaking occasionally at close to 10Mb/s.

The Dolby Surround sound is fine, but doesn't ignite your speakers with a forgettable soundtrack. See later on in the review for the reason why we're not being denied a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack as it appears from the back cover.

Extras :

Chapters/Theatrical Trailers :

Languages/Subtitles :

As for subtitles? Take your pick from the following FIFTEEN languages : English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, German, Turkish, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian and Dutch.

Filmographies :

Other extras :

Menu :

Overall, The Opposite of Sex is more like the opposite of entertainment. The basis of the story has potential since there's a lot going on, but the casting could have been improved - keep Ricci and Kudrow and change the rest - and the direction allows the story to plod along to the point where you couldn't care less what happens to the characters. Unlike the film's tagline, I rarely laughed, I didn't cry and I was only offended at not being able to claw back the 97 minutes of lost time.

If you haven't seen the film before, I'd advise you to rent before you buy, but in either case, you can rest assured you're getting all the extras that the Americans get.

FILM	 		: *
PICTURE QUALITY		: ***½
SOUND QUALITY		: ***
EXTRAS			: ***½
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OVERALL			: **½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.