sex, lies, and videotape
Sex, Lies, and Videotape is a 1989 movie that marked the directorial debut of Steven Soderbergh. It popularized indie movies and launched the careers of Andie Macdowell and James Spader.
The movie tells the story of an unhappily married couple, up-and-coming lawyer John (Peter Gallagher) and sweet, sexually repressed Ann (Macdowell). John's having a torrid affair with Ann's sister, extroverted Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo). Matters are complicated with the arrival of Graham (Spader), an old college friend of John's, a mysterious and sensitive man that collects interviews of women about their sexual experiences.
Tropes used in Sex, lies, and videotape include:
- A Date with Rosie Palms: Watching the sex interviews is how Graham gets off. Also, several women masturbate for him, including Cynthia.
- Dysfunction Junction
- Evil Lawyer Joke: Lawyers as the lowest life form on Earth.
- Good People Have Good Sex: Completely and famously inverted. The hero and the heroine have dysfunctional sex lives. The antagonists have lots of great sex.
- Jerkass: John
- Playing Against Type: Believe it or not, James Spader used to play snob villains. Here he is troubled, cute, and sensitive.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Graham and John, respectively. They used to be more alike in college, but diverged wildly.
- Sexless Marriage: What John and Ann's marriage has come to.
- Sibling Rivalry: Good girl Ann versus slutty Cynthia.