{"id":2056,"date":"2024-08-05T18:48:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T18:48:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2024-10-14T12:33:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:33:41","slug":"a-little-sex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/05\/a-little-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"A Little Sex"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A Little Sex <\/strong>(1982)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (nudity, language, mature themes)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Bruce Paltrow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Bob DeLaurentis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Georges Delerue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ralf D. Bode\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 2, 1982 (US) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cast: Tim Matheson, Kate Capshaw, Edward Herrmann, John Glover, Joan Copeland, Susanna Dalton, Wendie Malick, Wallace Shawn.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $2.3M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ** \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0Rarely has a movie been so up front in its title about its sexual content as A Little Sex<\/strong>, an adult comedy from Bruce Paltrow (yes, Gwyneth\u2019s dad!) about marriage and infidelity. There is very little sex in A Little Sex<\/strong> despite its main character being a womanizer. It\u2019s talked about, suggested, hinted at and even joked about but never shown. It\u2019s not explored beyond a superficial level either which I guess is okay since the characters are pretty superficial themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0There were a lot of adult-oriented comedies like A Little Sex<\/strong> in the late 70s\/early 80s period. You know the ones I mean, the ones dealing with marriage, sex and adultery. They\u2019re the movies our parents went to see while we stayed home with a babysitter or the grandparents. I can probably come up with a dozen examples on the spot but I\u2019ll refrain since I trust that you can do the same. One thing I\u2019m sure of, we\u2019re all thinking of Blake Edwards\u2019 10. Tell me I\u2019m wrong and I\u2019ll show you the way to Macho Grande.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I tried to watch A Little Sex<\/strong> when it premiered on cable in April \u201983, but never made it all the way through. At 15, I thought it was boring. I never even thought about trying again until recently when I came across a copy and thought \u201cWhy not?\u201d All I could remember about it was the burning cigarette in the opening credits sequence- but NOT the Melissa Manchester song \u201cYour Place or Mine\u201d on the soundtrack- and the scene where the central couple is buying a new bed. Beyond that, I had nothing so it was kind of like seeing it for the first time…. again.<\/p>\n

Michael (Matheson, Animal House) asks his girlfriend Katherine (Capshaw, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) to marry him after dating for two years and living together for ten months of it. They\u2019re a nice enough couple. He directs TV commercials; she teaches at an all-girls Catholic grade school. They live in the version of New York you only see in romantic comedies, one where everybody is friendly and muggers aren\u2019t hiding in every alley. It\u2019s a place where it\u2019s okay to play harmless jokes on little old ladies at the fruit stands that seem to be on every corner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Michael thinks they ought to get married because it\u2019s time. There\u2019s just one problem. He\u2019s a big time womanizer. He\u2019s irresistible to women especially the young attractive sort. They come on to him constantly. He doesn\u2019t seem to know the word \u201cno\u201d. However, he\u2019s confident that marriage will cure him of his weakness. He even makes a bet with his wise older brother Tommy (Hermann, Reds) that he can remain faithful to Katherine once they\u2019re married. Of course, it doesn\u2019t work out that way and she leaves him. He spends the rest of the movie trying to win her back.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now that I\u2019ve seen A Little Sex<\/strong> in its entirety, I can make an informed opinion on it. It\u2019s not terrific or terrible; it\u2019s slightly above mediocre. I\u2019m giving it a wee bit of leeway because frankly, it\u2019s better than much of the crappola that passes for comedy today. I laughed- not hard, mind you- at a few scenes like the one I mentioned earlier about buying a new bed. The salesgirl tells Katherine it\u2019s okay to lay on it to fully check the comfort level. Michael, in the guise of a stranger, comes along and asks if he can lie next to her. After an \u201cintro\u201d and some small talk, they decide to take the bed for a (fake) test run. They get under the covers and proceed to simulate sex while the salesgirl stands there horrified. It\u2019s hardly the behavior you expect in a real adult comedy- i.e. a comedy about real adults as opposed to teens in their 30s- but it\u2019s still amusing.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Strangely, A Little Sex<\/strong> is rather refreshing in that it doesn\u2019t feel the need to be mean-spirited. If it was made today, it would likely have the scorned wife getting even with her unfaithful husband by sabotaging his life as well as that of his mistress. The humor would be cruel, spiteful and probably involve bodily fluids. That wasn\u2019t the usual scenario back when A Little Sex<\/strong> was made. When Katherine learns of Michael\u2019s infidelity, she reacts like a normal adult. She walks out on him. She goes through all the usual stages- e.g. anger, not speaking to him, yelling at him and tears. She doesn\u2019t vandalize his car, ruin his career or lace his food with bodily substances. It\u2019s a nice change of pace although I doubt young people share this opinion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Matheson is actually quite good in A Little Sex<\/strong> even if he is playing a cheater who doesn\u2019t (or won\u2019t) understand the impact of his actions until it\u2019s (almost) too late. Aside from that one huge character flaw, he\u2019s a nice guy. In his spare time at work, he makes videos where he read naptime stories for his wife\u2019s first-graders (I think) dressed as \u201cThe Sandman\u201d. In one scene, he comforts a little girl injured during a field hockey game (Katherine\u2019s the coach). There\u2019s a sweetness to A Little Sex<\/strong> largely absent in modern comedies.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Capshaw is also good as the wronged wife who moves in with her ex, a classical musician played by John Glover (52 Pick-Up), until things are sorted out. It\u2019s her first film role following a stint on the soap opera The Edge of Night. She has nice chemistry with Matheson. Hermann does solid work as the brother imparting his wisdom to his younger sibling. The cast also includes Wallace Shaw as a work friend of Michael\u2019s. He gives his usual fine performance, but did he ever have hair? Although younger, he doesn\u2019t look too much different.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In any event, I like A Little Sex<\/strong>. That is to say, I don\u2019t dislike it. It\u2019s simplistic and predictable. It has nothing new to say about infidelity. It isn\u2019t fall-down funny or hilarious. It\u2019s amusing at best. It has likable actors who aren\u2019t given much to work with. It\u2019s like a made-for-TV movie with a little bad language and a little sex, TOO little sex if you ask me.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Little Sex (1982)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Universal\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 95 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (nudity, language, mature themes)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Bruce Paltrow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Bob DeLaurentis\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Georges Delerue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Ralf D. Bode\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: April 2, 1982 (US) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Cast: Tim Matheson, Kate Capshaw, Edward Herrmann, John Glover, Joan Copeland, Susanna Dalton, Wendie Malick, Wallace Shawn.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $2.3M (US) Rating: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/A-Little-Sex-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2056"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2804,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056\/revisions\/2804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}