Sex Is Comedy (2004)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

People are voting emotionally.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

A director struggles to film a key scene of her movie. This is apparently meant to be an autobiography of sorts for Breillat. Parrault, who made a splash as a ruthless killer in "La Femme Nikita" here plays a very different character. She is actually quite good as Breillat's alter-ego, a director obsessed with getting a sex scene in her movie just right. The whole film builds up to this one scene and it's just much ado about nothing, as Breillat's self-indulgence is transferred to Parrault. There's just too much talk, as she has to sooth the egos of her actors, who behave as if they were doing Shakespeare instead of what appears to be soft-core porn.

Sex is Comedy (2002) *** (out of 4) French film from the controversial Catherine Breillat is more a companion piece to her masterpiece Fat Girl than a film on its own. In this film, a director (Anne Parillaud) is having trouble filming a sex scene because her actor (Gregoire Colin) and actress (Roxane Mesquida) can't stand one another. That's pretty much the entire story but the film is so much more than that because it really gives us a behind the scenes look at what goes on during filming such a scene. As with the director's next film Anatomy of Hell, this one here didn't get very good reviews but I was totally captivated by it. I'm not sure what it is but Breillat can make just about anything seem real and interesting. It's clear that this sex scene being shot is her personal experience from the filming of Fat Girl. The sex scene here is the same one from that film and the actress here is also the same one used in that film. The performances by the three leads are all very good but the movie belongs to Parillaud as the director being tortured by her actors. Parillaud really nails the role as the frustrated director willing to do anything to get the scene in the can. I think the film works best if you've seen Fat Girl because you can watch the filming here and know what eventually came from it. It's rather interesting watching this film and seeing what all went into making Fat Girl and more clearly, what it took to pull off the sex scene in question, which is one of the most haunting yet beautiful ones that I've seen. This film certainly isn't about sex and there's no comedy to be found but it is about a director trying to get both out of her actors.

This movie is a fascinating drama about the Making of a movie. The Actor and the Actress really can't stand each other, but we build up to a scene in which they are to have sex - she for the first time, per script. The actress shows little emotion on or off camera in the plot, aside from she is freezing in the early scenes on a beach. The actor is self absorbed and increasingly defies the direction of the Director, Jeanne. I could not help being drawn in to the drama of 'how are these two possibly going to ACT their way thru a Sex Scene?' That drama in itself becomes more exciting than the actual nudity and foreplay performed for the cameras. Not that Roxane Mesquida isn't lovely and worth seeing naked! However, there is a pretty young stage hand who walks thru a few scenes as an extra. I think that is her in the far left edge of one of the pictures (2 of 9) here in IMDb. I don't even know if this girl is credited, but when she walks by (fully dressed of course) in confident indifference with her short blonde hair -- SHE is Sexy! WHO IS THIS GIRL???

I'd really have to rate "Sex is Comedy" as one of the worst pieces of dreck I have ever seen. The film inadvertedly showcases those which are the worst aspects of the French, or at least how they are stereotyped, narcissism, snobbery, and pseudo-intellectualism. I myself am French-Canadian and feel slightly ashamed that the creators of this film are from the same culture as me, that should give you an idea as to how bad this movie really was! One doesn't so much watch this film as undergo torture to it, there was a total lack of humour, and it seemed to me as if the entire film was a documentary interviewing people who were neither famous, nor talented, as if to celebrate something that has never happened to begin with. Instead, why not watch Auberge Espagnole, Happenstance, or Je t'aime... a la folie, three fantastic modern French films.