Plot
A good-natured womanizer and a serial cheater form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
Release Year: 2015
Rating: 6.3/10 (397 voted)
Critic's Score: 64/100
Director: Leslye Headland
Stars: Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Jordan Carlos
Storyline
A good-natured womanizer and a serial cheater form a platonic relationship that helps reform them in ways, while a mutual attraction sets in.
Cast: Alison Brie -
Lainey
Jason Sudeikis -
Jake
Jordan Carlos -
R.A.
Margarita Levieva -
Hannah
Charles Cain -
Helmet Kid
Adam Brody -
Sam
Michael Cyril Creighton -
Attentive Waiter
Billy Eichner -
SLAA Speaker
Jason Mantzoukas -
Xander
Margaret Odette -
Thea
Amanda Peet -
Paula
Victoria Frings -
Nurse
Adam Scott -
Matthew
Natasha Lyonne -
Kara
Andrea Savage -
Naomi
Taglines:
a romantic comedy with commitment issues
Country: USA
Language: English
Release Date: 11 September 2015
Filming Locations: New York City, New York, USA
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Director Leslye Headland and Adam Scott was previously worked together in Bachelorette (2012). See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating:
After losing their virginity to each other in college, Elaine "Lainey"
Dalton (Alison Brie) and Jake (Jason Sudeikis) part ways. More than
twelve years pass before the two meet again by chance outside a sex
addiction clinic - and eventually embark on a real first date. But
Lainey, still obsessed with pursuing an affair with an old flame, Dr.
Matthew Sobvechik (Adam Scott), and Jake, admittedly a serial
womanizer, agree to maintain a completely platonic relationship -
complete with a safe word should their conversations or behaviors
become too sexual. As Jake and Lainey quickly become great friends,
continuing to confide tales of romantic triumphs and misadventures with
each other, they slowly begin to realize that the mutual attraction
building between them can no longer be ignored.
The opening scenes and the initial premise are largely unbelievable as
they paint portraits of college flings and their lasting effects on
adulthood. The following, slow-motion run through the rain to chase
down an angered girl with smeared makeup as punk music plays in the
background doesn't improve the scenario, though it does eventually
change course and offer up a couple of diverting laughs. The rest of
the project tries its best to avoid the romantic comedy tropes it
initially depended on while also imparting a bit of dramatic heart.
That's another problem, however, as "Sleeping with Other People"
doesn't quite know what it wants to be. The tone is consistently
humorous, with Jason Sudeikis' nonstop jokes mustering genuine laughs,
yet severer moments keep cropping up. Frequently, it's as if two
separate movies are unfolding simultaneously. Even some of the more
original gags (such as a crash course in female masturbation) are
alternated with the darker concepts of real psychological disorders and
graphic sex. The beginning details of sex addiction treatment and
coping methods soon give way to the truths of waiting for Mr. Right and
yearning over the one that got away. "You're not an addict – you're
just a whore."
In its attempts to be both serious and goofy, the film struggles. But,
fortunately, Brie and Sudeikis are talented actors, capable of not only
delivering clever bits of dialogue (intermittently written with
perceptive verve by Leslye Headland) but also crafting characters
worthy of attention and sympathy. No matter how formulaic it is to see
the two lead personas - hopelessly right for one another - continue
down disjoining courses, it's routinely amusing to see them veering
back to their inevitable conclusion. It's a strange balance, with the
comedy and drama working best when not intermingling, like a modernized
take on "When Harry Met Sally" as the inherent degeneration of platonic
relationships are revealed and the risks of experimenting with love
become more disconcerting.
In the end, "Sleeping with Other People" proves to have just enough
surprising sequences of individuality that it can't be relegated to the
raunchy teen comedy realm of projects like "Just Friends," "No Strings
Attached," "Friends with Benefits," and "40 Days and 40 Nights." The
screenplay is wired with frank sexual conversations and slightly
higher-brow references (like the early days of Seth MacFarlane's
"Family Guy" show), generating arrestingly fast-paced repartee like a
dirtier Woody Allen (again, from the early days). Resultantly, much of
the denotative remarks will likely be lost amongst the target audience
(including mentions of "The West Wing," "Misery," the IBM ThinkPad,
Anne Sullivan, Blues Traveler, Pinkerton from "Madame Butterfly,"
Malcolm Gladwell, Bobby Fischer, and the opening scene from "Beverly
Hills Cop").
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