Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)

November 21, 2015 1:05 PM

Sex, Lies, and Videotape was Steven Soderbergh first feature film. It tells the story of a sexually repressed woman whose husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish creates havoc with the lives of the four characters.
posted by growabrain (6 comments total)

You sure couldn't have predicted the places Steven Soderbergh would go, based on this movie. But then, Soderbergh's been such a chameleon I don't know if ANY debut feature could have given you an idea of what he could and would do.

It's kind of amazing how young and beautiful everybody is in this movie. They were all probably in their thirties so it's not like watching Footloose or something where everybody's a baby, but it's easy to forget that James Spader and Peter Gallagher were both remarkably pretty men back in the day. This movie will also make you want to Google what Andie McDowell and Laura San Giacomo are doing these days.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:46 PM on November 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I remember being astonished, after hearing the tale of how Soderbergh made this film by borrowing from friends and sleeping on peoples' couches, how high the production values were. In particular I expected him to use the video angle as an excuse to do a low-tech/gritty approach to the video scenes, much as Blair Witch Project did for the entire film, and SL&VT didn't do that at all.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:13 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

The screenplay and production diaries arw wonderful additions to understanding how Soderbergh thinks. In particular, it started with a worse title, and a dumber plot twist. I think about Andie worrying about ALL THE GARBAGE all the time. I do it too.
posted by gregglind at 2:55 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't know what I'd think of it now, but I can say it's one of the rare films that has stuck with me for... 25 years?! The images of Andie cleaning everything are still in my head - more than the plot is. I loved this movie. Kind of afraid to see it again in case I don't anymore.
posted by latkes at 3:54 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Don't worry, Latkes, the film is as good today as it was then.
posted by growabrain at 9:13 PM on July 21, 2017 [1 favorite]

I just watched it again - Terrific film making!
posted by growabrain at 3:48 PM on March 9, 2020