Sleeping with Other People

Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jordan Carlos, Adam Brody, Adam Scott, Amanda Peet, Jason Mantzoukas
Directed by: Leslye Headland
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
2015
Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two people (Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie) with commitment issues form a platonic relationship to help each other find love.

Review:

Tim: I'm a big fan of Alison Brie because of "Community", but I just couldn't get myself to enjoy this movie. I do wonder about her viability on the big screen. The problems here certainly aren't with her, but this is a nonstarter of a film. It's okay- it's similar to many other romantic dramedies. For a few minutes at the beginning of the film, I thought this might be something different- a unique, fresh take on a familiar story. That promise never materializes. This is a forgettable, average film. It's never terrible, but it never manages to do anything particularly powerful.

The film travels down a well-worn path. Two people start a platonic relationship, even though they are attracted to each other. From this one statement, we know exactly what is going to happen throughout the movie. It's so predictable. The movie doesn't offer anything to subvert our expectations. We've seen this exact movie dozens of times before. That was disappointing.

I didn't really like any of the characters. They are severely flawed and we weren't given enough reason to really invest in them. There wasn't enough emotional depth with the characters. For that reason, I never really cared about them or felt connected with their story. The lack of any emotional connection hurts the film.

Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis are admittedly fairly good in their roles. They brought energy to the parts and their effort shows up on screen. However, both of them could have done more to build connections with the audience. While much of the blame is on the script, some blame is shouldered by them for their performances. There's something about Sudeikis that has always rubbed me the wrong way. He certainly has excellent comedic timing, but there's still something off-putting about him. Here, he's charismatic and funny, yet I never really cared for him. Maybe it's my issue, but it did hold the movie back. Brie is good, although I didn't love her character. It was fun seeing Adam Scott and Amanda Peet in smaller roles, but everyone in the supporting cast is eclipsed by Sudeikis and Brie. The script doesn't create enough room for a supporting player to really emerge.

The fact that this movie is R rated does help it some. Maybe it's shallow, but so many of these movies come out of Hollywood every year, it's a bit refreshing to hear people drop the F-word and talk like people do in the real world. There's enough of these kinds of film that the approach is no longer novel, but it slightly helps differentiate this film. And, this movie could use as much of that as it could get. There's a few funny moments throughout the film, but this isn't a movie that had me rolling.

Sleeping With Other People is an okay film. It features unlikable characters played by decently likable actors. It follows a well-trod path and gives us nothing really new or exciting. You can do worse than this film, but it will probably feel like you've seen this all before (because you have).

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Horrible Bosses, We're the Millers, Drinking Buddies