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Movies / On DVD / Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101

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Sex and Death 101 (2008)

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Reviews Counted: 39

Fresh: 10

Rotten:29

Average Rating: 4.3/10

Consensus: Sex and Death 101 aspires to be a clever sex comedy, but has little life behind the sex or the death.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Apr 4, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: This amusing sex farce updates age-old concepts about love, sex, and hot lesbians. A new supercomputer (with vague ties to the afterlife) spits out random e-mails that tell when people will die, or... This amusing sex farce updates age-old concepts about love, sex, and hot lesbians. A new supercomputer (with vague ties to the afterlife) spits out random e-mails that tell when people will die, or in the case of suave, affluent groom-to-be Roderick Blank (Simon Baker), a list of all the girls he ever slept with and ever will sleep with. There's 70 he's never even met, and he's due to be married in 11 days! Naturally his wedding is off and Roderick goes gallivanting around the city, crossing off names and gradually realizing the pitfalls of empty one-nighters. Meanwhile the mysterious "Death Nell" (Winona Ryder) is seducing and destroying a stream of deserving louts, spray painting anguished poetry on their walls and creating a media sensation. These two are bound to cross paths, and when they finally do, comeuppance is in the cards, with a bloody vengeance. Director-screenwriter Daniel Waters (HEATHERS) delivers laughs from brows both low and high, with Baker revealing a flair for sophisticated comedy beneath his mellow scruff. The slew of actresses comprising "the list" turn in uniformly fine work, with Julie Bowen a standout as the hot but "just friends" gal pal. Still, it's all stolen in the ninth inning by the radiantly off-her-rocker Ryder as the girl men fall for, permanently; with her big eyes, dark hair and myriad tics she shines like a crazy beautiful diamond. The spot-on score is by Rolfe Kent (SIDEWAYS, ABOUT SCHMIDT). [More]

Starring: Winona Ryder, Simon Baker, Leslie Bibb, Mindy Cohn

Starring: Winona Ryder, Simon Baker, Leslie Bibb, Mindy Cohn, Dash Mihok, Neil Flynn, Patton Oswalt, Robert Wisdom, Sophie Monk, Marshall Bell, Julie Bowen, Frances Fisher, Robert Patrick Benedict

Director: Daniel Waters

Director: Daniel Waters
Screenwriter: Daniel Waters
Producer: Cary Brokaw, Elizabeth Zox Friedman, Greg Little
Composer: Rolfe Kent
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jul 1, 2008

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Reviews for Sex and Death 101

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Heaven help a writer who turns a philanderer into a blank.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Josh Rosenblatt
Austin Chronicle

Admittedly, it doesn't have many belly laughs, but if you're tuned into Waters' peculiar, highly intelligent comedy style it's a fascinating watch.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
07/17/08
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

the monologues near the truly odd ending make you wonder whether Waters had an extreme fever when he was finishing up the script

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/06/08
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

As a writer, Waters is best-known for creating Ryder's sharp black comedy, Heathers, and Bruce Willis' self-indulgent bomb, Hudson Hawk. As a director, he tends to waste actors, and he fails to establish a consistent comic tone.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/11/08
John Hartl
Seattle Times

Sex and Death falls into the category of those unfortunate films in that it's a schoolboy's wet dream slathered in smug self-back patting and wish-fantasy run amok, all told with the deftness of a piano falling out of the sky and onto our heads.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/11/08
Paula Nechak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A fun, sloppy treatment of a profound premise that, as a reunion project between Waters and Ryder, feels right.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
04/10/08
Brent Simon
FilmStew.com

There are a lot of laughs, good performances, and points for creativity.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
04/07/08
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Now we know how the dopes in the beer commercials spend their time when they are not drinking their beer. They laugh their socks off at movies like this.

Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
04/04/08
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

Waters is trying to have his cake and eat it out too.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
04/04/08
Keith Uhlich
UGO

One of the most pointless films ever made about sex or death.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
04/04/08
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

It's all a pretentious bore that feels twice as long as it's two-hour running time.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/04/08
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Why not simply admit this is cheeseball porn, assembled with a slightly higher brand of cheese and nuts?

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
04/04/08
Philip Marchand
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This film is headed quickly for DVD. In the video store, though, it isn't funny enough to be shelved in the comedy section nor dirty enough to be filed with the smut.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/04/08
Kyle Smith
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What a sorry reunion for Ryder and writer-director Daniel Waters, who scripted her far better dark comedy Heathers back in 1989.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/04/08
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie aims to be an unbridled sex farce, but the sex is never all that hot and the jokes are rarely all that funny.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
04/04/08
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

The film works hard to be a dark, grown up, romantic comedy (plenty of sex, nudity, bad language and philosophy) and yet it winds up being every bit as childish as most other pictures in the genre.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/04/08
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

The comedy grows more and more gratingly cynical and unpleasant.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
04/04/08
David Noh
Film Journal International

Neither particularly dark nor even remotely funny.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
04/04/08
Joanne Kaufman
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even if it badly needs editing, runs almost a half-hour too long and chickens out totally in its final scenes, it's still miles above the Hollywood comedy median.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
04/04/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The screenwriter Daniel Waters has some funny films to his name, but Sex and Death 101 is not one of them.

comment Comment
04/04/08
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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