Retrospective - 1989's "Sex, Lies and Videotape

IS IT RAINING I HADN'T NOTICED?!?!

Personally, I think it promised more than it delivered.

We were meant to believe that Andie MacDowell was the cure for Spader's emotional and sexual dysfunction.

For all the talk of how sizzling Laura San Giacomo was in the film, I would've thought she'd have more of a career but she's primarily remembered for her turn as Kit, Julia Roberts' side-kick in Pretty Woman.

Anytime I ask my mother about Laura San Giacomo, she brings up the woman's jugs.

I like Spader. His odd energy makes him seem like somebody I’d enjoy sitting down and talking with. He seems like a person who’s simultaneously benign and impossible to predict.

I liked the movie, too. There are performers who through no fault or unlikability of their own are especially enjoyable when their character is made to suffer through being humiliated and Peter Gallagher is one of them. Richard Gere is another.

I saw the movie when it came out. It seemed like Spader's character got cured too easily by getting a dose of some real sex from Andie MacDowell. It is a very real problem that men become addicted to masturbation and the real thing whether a man or woman just doesn't cut it anymore.

I remember it was boring, like watching paint dry. Andie MacDowell is not a great actress. Spader is good. I preferred him in White Palace or even wandering the corridors with no books in Pretty in Pink while Don Johnson asks if he can have his suit back.

R6 What about Less than Zero, where his sexy dealer/pimp was turned into just another After School Special Villain?

[6] I read the book before seeing White Palace. The book dealt more with the culture clash between a "yuppie" Jewish guy and an older white trashy female. The movie's ads played off the age dynamic more to sell tickets. I bring it up because it has one of the most ridiculous lines in the recent memory despite the fact this is a 25 plus year old movie -elder here. As stated in the book the male lead played by Spader was Jewish so they decided to keep a line from the book where Susan Sarandon's character says "you are dark, are you Greek?, you look like Tony Curtis" Spader with his lighter coloring in no way looks "Greek" Jewish, like "Tony Curtis" "dark" or any of the above. I realize that movies are always in some respect different than the books they are based on, but give me a break. The actors had to be saying WTF? when they first read those lines.

R3, how often do you find yourself asking your mother about Laura San Giacomo??

R7 I barely remember Less than Zero except for (gasp, spoilers) the ending when Mr. Downey finally pays up to the grim reaper. But Spader was always an intelligent presence, plus the doe eyes don't hurt.

James Spader was so goddamn beautiful. Fortunately his beauty was captured on film. I love his voice, too.

I saw it when it came out on video, yet I don't remember a single thing about the actual movie. There was a ton of promo & hype.

I loved it when it came out. But haven’t seen it since. And remember almost nothing about it. But it launched the indie movement

Belinda Carlisle's husband was a producer.

I loved it. Spader was so sexy in it and regardless of what you think of MacDowell's acting, she and Spader had wonderful chemistry here. This film set me on a Spader crush for quite a few years and I watched a lot of his crappy movies just to watch him. His pinnacle was Secretary, I think.

Still one of Soderbergh's more interesting films, and R13 is right, it was pivotal in launching the indie movement of the 90s. Also put me in a lifelong love affair with Cliff Martinez's scores. I really miss the indie films of that decade. I don't think Spader's problem was simply a porn addiction, R5. He was in freefall after a bad relationship and was seeking out a faux intimacy with random strangers. It wasn't enough that they masturbated for him, but he wanted their private thoughts as well.

So youtube won't let you rent the damn thing, you must BUY it. What's up with that.

R16 Cheap Whore!

I am. But none so cheap as you, sweetheart. If you think I am shelling out thirteen bucks to watch this thing, think again.