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Sex, Lies, and Videotape [Region 2] | ![Sex, Lies, and Videotape [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YSXPJZ9QL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Steven Soderbergh
Actors: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo, Ron Vawter
Category: DVD
This item is no longer available
Rating:  66 reviews
Format: Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: French (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
EAN: 3388334500074
ASIN: B00004ZE3Y
Theatrical Release Date: August 18, 1989
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Amazon.com essential video
Winner of the Palm d'Or and Best Actor awards at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, sex, lies, and videotape transformed the independent film industry and turned writer-director Steven Soderbergh into the envy of aspiring filmmakers everywhere. Sly, seductive, and coolly intelligent, the movie explores the sexual shenanigans and personal preoccupations of its four central characters, revolving around a selfish lawyer (Peter Gallagher) who responds to his wife by having an affair with her free-spirited sister (Laura San Giacomo). But when the lawyer's college roommate (James Spader) arrives for an unexpectedly extended visit, the neglected wife (Andie MacDowell) is surprisingly responsive to his seductive hobby of videotaping women as they describe their sexual fantasies. It's his way of compensating for impotence, but the curious wife considers this a sexual challenge, and Soderbergh turns sex, lies, and videotape into a fascinating chamber piece that puts a decidedly different spin on the consequences of infidelity. Balanced on a risky and finely tuned performance by Spader, the film delivers frisky passion and emotional intrigue, and yet much of its allure is found in the exchange of secrets and the hidden mysteries of sexual desire. --Jeff Shannon
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 66
 Wonderful Dialog Between Some Troubled Folks February 21, 2010
petesea (Orlando, FL)
Peter Gallagher is yuppie, junior law partner John Mullany with a huge office, a cold wife and a sizzling affair with her sister. Andie MacDowell is Ann Bishop Mullany who has lost interest in sex, being touched and grapples with huge issues like "what are we going to do with all the garbage" in therapy. Laura San Giacomo is Cynthia - Ann's bartender, nymphomaniac sister - who is OK with touching John.
Things are put into motion when John's frat brother Graham (James Spader) comes back to town. Ann does not want him staying in her house, but she warms up to him and helps him find an apartment and becomes his friend. Graham is full of many secrets and one of them is that he likes to videotape women talking about sex - this is how he gets gratification.
Ann and Cynthia become subjects for his collection and the worlds of the women and the men change forever.
Steven Soderbergh wrote and directed this film and he gets wonderful performances from Spader and MacDowell.
 Blu Ray Review: A personally engaging director with a stellar cast and a profoundly haunting score February 14, 2010
Jimmy Lee (Manhasset, N.Y. United States)
Steven Soderbergh and James Spader initiated my immediate interest in this film as Soderbergh's emotionally engaging techniques as a director never falls short of amazement; his characters are usually rich and very complex which enables him to invoke a sense of familiarity and impeccable plausibility to his audience. I have been a fan of James Spader's work especially in the 80's and was quite intrigued in this unusual role he plays for Sex Lies and VideoTape. The calm and appropriate setting that SoderBergh intentionally chooses for this film as well as his emphasis on character development will truly immerse and retain most of the audience's attention span. In respect to plot and character development I always prefer the latter to be richer and more carefully crafted.
Anne Bishop Mullany played by a very passive and quite attractive (Andy Macdowell) is a recent and fairly converted housewife. From the get go we get a sense of who Anne Mullany is through her therapy session. Our quick glimpse into her therapy session manifests how truly bored and empty Mullany's life is as her incessant trepidation about very mundane problems such as the onslaught of endless human garbage and world starvation impede and trap this woman's ability to truly focus on herself or more importantly her role in society.
Her character is further exposed when she reveals more personal information regarding her sex life with her husband John. (Peter Gallagher) According to Anne, her sex life has truly waned in the sense that she has physically lost any remaining sexual attraction to John. Moreover, she reveals that she has no desire to touch him in bed and that she never was the "sexual initiator" even when she was attracted. Her therapist begins to ask her some rather probing questions about her sexual feelings and gradually touches upon the act of masturbation. Anne's reaction is quite interesting as she emit's a very childish and retrained response stammering with a facetiously and giggling tone, "Sex is stupid" and that "I once tried to attempt masturbation but with no success". Her reaction suggests as if she attempted it out of sheer humor or for kicks. Her response also implies to us and the therapist that she acted upon this fairly recently; and, when her therapist picks up on this and further reconfirms her answer her face becomes distorted and looks unsettling; she looks uncomfortable and changes the subject. Her session gradually ends by voluntarily expressing her annoyance of her husband's failure to warn her sooner about his past time friend, Graham (James Spader), an old college buddy, who is going to be staying with them for a few days.
It is during Anne Mullany's therapy session where Steven Soderbergh cleverly uses the technique of parallel editing to convey an unfulfilled relationship as he is seen cheating on Anne with her younger sister, Cynthia.
John, a young up and coming lawyer, who is not only trying to manage his demanding and burdensome client schedule but also trying to manage his affair with Cynthia as well, is not too successful at it. His frequent and yet brief escapades enable John to cope with stress and fulfill his lackluster sex life with Anne. John and Cynthia's frequent and carefully planned escapades inevitably lead Anne to suspicion.
Cynthia, Anne's younger sister, is quite the opposite of Anne in every possible way; she is a loud, candid extrovert who is not in the least bit timid on the topic of sex either. She also seems to thoroughly enjoy how Anne reacts to her attitude and behavior. Her subsequent affair with John truly belittles and demeans Anne's marriage; moreover, it merely reduces it to a simple "non-attached fling" which is something quite similar and more appropriate you would find in Cynthia occupation of bartending. Cynthia's lack of guilt respect and compassion towards Anne and her marriage only reinforce this concept further. On a more important note, she doesn't even seem really interested neither in John's personality nor of his potential qualities or lack thereof. Cynthia seems to only enjoy the secrecy aspect of the affair as John comes and goes like a common cold.
My favorite character and one of the more complex as well is Graham Dalton (James Spader) who is a highly unusual, soft-spoken analytical and quite reticent as his inner feelings are admittedly expressed non-verbally. His strange innocent and yet probing questions lure Anne's attention immediately upon his arrival. With in a few minutes of his arrival Graham is sitting down asking Anne about her marriage particularly on how and why she likes this new lifestyle. Anne's answers to these questions further reveal her profound emptiness and lost sense of identity when she only mentions a few materialistic possessions such as the nice house they live in and the security of John's career. After their initial encounter, we find Anne becoming more drawn to Graham when she protects him from the claws of her feisty younger sister, or when she stares at him sleeping on the couch with a sort of curiosity and engaging interest. We also get a sense of Anne's attraction to him when she opens up to her therapist about his unexpectedly unusual personality that is so far different from her husbands that in a way is alleviating to her.
The interaction between these four characters is quite mesmerizing and very complex. James Spader's and Andy MacDowell's character interaction is by far the most interesting and multifaceted. The way they challenge and react to each other's body language is enough to at least invoke some sense of enjoyment and curiosity from this film. Personally I enjoyed the heavy social commentary that sheds light on the troubles of flawed characters in modern relationships. Ironically, all of these characters do have something in common after all, and that is through their carefully self-constructed mental prisons that they built for themselves in society; Graham is still haunted by a previous and apparently unsuccessful relationship with a woman named Elizabeth, and this still has a profound affect on Graham's life. Moreover, his apprehensiveness to engage in future relationships not only prevents him from making forward progress but also isolates him from other women.
Anne's inability to feel sexual attraction with her husband or to any other potential male completely dominates her life and this is particularly evident in her unproductive therapy sessions. We are not really sure how long Anne and John have been married nor are we aware of how long he has been in an affair. We are also not aware of how long Anne has been in therapy either. However, it is safe to assume that Anne's dissatisfaction as a wife and place in society has been pestering her long enough.
John, who is according to Graham the lowest form of human life: A lying lawyer. John struggles to become a successful lover or a husband for that matter in every possible aspect; he is not honest in the least bit as he openly and blatantly lies to his wife in a very poor manner too. It is also revealed later that John also cheated with Grahman's former girlfriend Elizabeth. It seems as though John's life was and is still completely dominated by short-term non-attached flings. It is also revealed how John struggles to cope with this pattern of behavior when we see him get tossed like a bad habit in Cynthia's apartment.
Cynthia's poor attempt to become emotionally attached to any male is pathetic to say the very least. Her affair with John along with her attempt to seduce Graham manifests her inability to have a long-term relationship. In a sense this is empowering to her.
Most importantly, it is through these interactions that enable us to see how these characters center their entire lives on their insecurities. In a much larger sense, this flaw prevents them from fulfilling their roles as wife, a husband, a potential lover and a sister. SoderBergh is nothing short of excellent in his debut film; his deceptive vocal recording along with his stylistic editing is very impressive and intriguing. More impressive, are his carefully crafted characters that are acted flawlessly throughout the film.
For a low-budget indie film that takes us back to 1989 this film is completely restored and re-mastered of the highest and most accurate quality. Although I have never seen the dvd I think it is safe to assume that this Blu Ray transfer is probably the far superior format that this picture is ever going to look, end of story; colors look completely natural which produce a strong feel of vibrancy particularly during some of the exterior shots of Graham's apartment and Anne's house. Flesh tones are fairly consistent throughout exhibiting a very subtle and appropriate level of softness during the interior shots. Detail is not extraordinary but is still impressive no less and that is because of the film's age. The gentle and subtle layer of grain prevalent throughout the film will not displease Blu-Ray fans or technical critics either as it is able to retain the indie appearance of the film without discrediting the superb transfer. In respect to sound, don't look for a jaw-dropping Dobly TrueHD 5.1 immersing surround sound experience either, because this is a drama film that centers around dialogue and a soft-haunting soundtrack composed by the brilliant Cliff Martinez. The majority of your speakers will be dominated by your center-channel and left-right speakers. This is not a disappointment in the least bit either as Martinez's deep and haunting soundtrack will easily satisfy it's audience because it contributes to the mood and atmosphere of the various characters inner thoughts and feelings. The dialogue is very crisp and is immune to any distracting pops or crackles. Overall, this is quite an impressive and excellent Blu-Ray transfer.
Blu-ray: Very solid blu-ray release, older Criterion interviews included plus 20th anniversary reunion November 19, 2009
Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In 1988, an independent film directed by newcomer Steve Soderbergh (who would go on to direct the films "Erin Bockovich", "Traffic", "Oceans Twelve", etc.) would achieve prominence as the film was the spark that helped revolutionize the independent film movement in the 1990's. Winner of the Palme D'or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, the indie film would also earn a nomination for an Academy Award and would be the beginning of a long, prosperous career for Steve Soderbergh but also the four main talents of the film: James Spader ("Stargate", "Boston Legal", "Pretty in Pink", "White Palace"), Andie MacDowell ("Groundhog Day", "Hudson Hawk", "Four Weddings and a Funeral"), Laura San Giacomo ("Pretty Woman", "Just Shoot Me", "Saving Grace") and Peter Gallagher ("The OC", "Short Cuts", "Californication").
The film which cost about a million dollars to make, went on to receive critical success and earn $24 million in the box office. "sex, lies, and videotape" became a big hit for independent film studio Miramax Films and the film was selected and preserved by the United States National Film Registry in 2006 as a film that is "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and in 2009, to celebrate the film's 20th year anniversary, "sex, lies and videotape" receives its first High Definition Blu-ray release.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"sex, lies, and videotape" is featured in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1). For the most part, the picture quality has a fine layer of grain but also shows quite a bit of detail as we can see the skin pores of Andie McDowell. You can see the details of the characters quite clearly. The transfer is not perfect as I did see a few instances of dirt and even artifacting. But I have to admit that this is the best I've seen of the film compared to its Criterion Collection LD and DVD counterpart.
As for the transfer, the same Interpositive Element from the original 35mm Camera negative which was used in the 1988 DVD was scanned 4K DPX Files, as a potential source for future remastering. The 2K files were color timed at Technicolor using the 1998 transfer as a color reference. Also, a substantial amount of dirt was cleaned up utilizing version 7 of MTI DRS and splice bump correction using Autodesk Inferno.
The audio of the film is presented in English and French Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The sound although lossless sounds very good. Dialogue is clear and understandable but at the same time, audio doesn't utilize the surround channels as much as I was hoping for it too. But this is explained through the restoration special feature that Soderbergh felt it important to present this film with its original 1989 mix. The goal of the audio restoration was to remove any snap and pops throughout the film but focusing on audio being a front and center channel for "sex, lies and videotape" and minimal utilization of subwoofers and surrounds.
Subtitles are featured in English, English SDH and French.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"sex, lies, and videotape" comes with several special features new and old (some from the original Criterion Collection LD release) and are featured in High Definition or Standard Definition and in English Stereo.
* Movie IQ - Real-time movie information about the cast, crew, music and production via BD-Live.
* Commentary with Writer/Director Steven Soderbergh and Neil LaBute - A very good commentary that filmmakers and commentary fans will definitely enjoy. From the setup of a scene and learning from Soderbergh about his mindset of what he wanted to accomplish for the film plus comparisons to an Eric Rohmer film.
* 20 Year Reunion at the Sundance Film Festival - (3:26) Featuring Steven Soderbergh, Peter Gallagher, Andie McDowell and Laura San Giacomo for a reunion 20 years later at the Sundance Film Festival. The group fields questions from the audience and more.
* Deleted Scene with Optional Commentary- (3:26) Director Steven Soderbergh sets up a deleted scene featuring Ann (McDowell) with her therapist.
* Steven Soderbergh on "sex, lies and videotape" trailers - (4:40) Director Soderbergh talks about shooting the theatrical trailer for the film. View Soderbergh's trailer and the Miramax trailer.
* Steven Soderbergh on "sex, lies and videotape" - (8:22) Soderbergh talks about his influences in creating the film. About not utilizing nudity in the film and more.
* Notes on Remastering and Restoration - Text info. on what was digitally restores for the Blu-ray release.
JUDGMENT CALL:
When "sex, lies and videotape" was released, I can remember that I was thinking that this would be a bold film that showcased a lot of nudity. Of course, the film is not anything like that. But I felt that watching it now 20 years later versus watching it when I was in my teens, I felt that I have much more appreciation for the film more now than ever.
Soderbergh has went on to create many wonderful films since "sex, lies and videotape" but what has captured my attention about this film is his how he kept the film simple and concentrated on the details around the four characters. He mentions in the commentary of his influence of Eric Rohmer (who created the popular films as part of his "Six Moral Tales") and the long dialogue between characters. Maybe it made no impression to me back then but now, any director who can have their characters engage in dialogue with meaning and profoundness is wonderful.
Andie MacDowell was the surprising star because in the beginning, I thought she would be the typical jilted housewife but we see her character emerge as one that is confused to one that finally gains perspective. Laura San Giacomo did well in portraying the free-will Cynthia (which she would go on to do again in "Pretty Woman"), John Mullany (Peter Gallagher) was the ultimate sleezeball and for Graham (Spader), his character was mysterious and although the viewer doesn't know exactly what had happen to him, it's how the character was changed after changing the character he videotaped.
As the film itself, one can see how this independent film helped revolutionize indie films and allowing media coverage. Sure, we see independent films, arthouse films receive media coverage today but in the context of independent films getting seen by a wide audience, "sex, lies, and videotape" was definitely instrumental in being part of that small group of films that Hollywood would give a chance to. And of course, without this film, we wouldn't have awesome films by Steven Soderbergh such as "Erin Brokovich", "Traffic", "Out of Sight", "The Good German", "Che" and "Schizopolis" (although we can leave Soderbergh's "Oceans" films out of the list).
As for the Blu-ray release, this is the best the film has ever looked and the restoration was definitely important for this 20th Anniversary release. The only problem that I have with this release is that if they were going to show that 20th Anniversary reunion, why not show the entire Q&A session? They show bits and pieces of it and that is my main peeve of this release. We are seeing more and more films given the anniversary treatment on Blu-ray with the reunion Q&A sessions featured in its entirety, I would have loved to see this Q&A at Sundance in full. Also, some of the features are from the original Criterion Collection LD from nearly 20 years ago, so quality is not exactly that great. But nevertheless, it was good to see Sony include that on this Blu-ray release.
Overall, for those who enjoyed the film or Soderbergh's work will definitely want to add "sex, lies and videotape" to their Blu-ray collection. Although the film was once a Criterion Collection release (on LD), it was great to see this release have almost a Criterion feel with is restoration technique explanation and also amateur filmmakers will enjoy Soderbergh's audio commentary as well. Definitely a solid Blu-ray release worth owning!
talk, acting and agreatscript November 18, 2009
A Customer (L.A.)
Power of drama, filmmaking and a great production create a talky but supercharged rollercoaster ride! Talk, great acting and directing are all you get. So, I'm all choked up about how you cant see a plane crash or the destruction by a photon blaster; but, you're gonna like it. It's own blast!
Sony BD is great and the quiet movie can be loud.
 no longer ground-breaking October 13, 2009
AIROLF (USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In 1989, this movie might've been way ahead of its time, but in 2009. the film hardly stands out among movies dealing with relationship crisis. The movie has good. solid performances from the cast, particularly Andie MacDowell, but no one performance is extraordinary.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 66
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