Sex and Breakfast

I just watched a film from 2007 on Instant Netflix called Sex & Breakfast. As you may recall, I am in a Macaulay Culkin phase and am attempting to watch his filmography over break, in addition to that of his brothers. He starred in this movie alongside Eliza Dushku, Kuno Becker, and Alexis Dziena, none of whom are very recognizable actors. (Eliza Dushku was in Bring It On & Alexis Dziena was in a bunch of shitty romantic comedies of the late 00s - When In Rome, Fools Gold, and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Kuno Becker was in a series of Spanish movies.)

The story is about two couples (Mac & Alexis / Kuno & Eliza) who are having a rough period in their sex lives. For Macaulay and Alexis, the issue lies with Alexis' inclination towards "bad boys." As Macaulay's character is not a bad boy, Alexis finds it difficult to be completely attracted to him. Meanwhile, his character is kind of smarmy (a common theme in his movies, I've noticed), and doesn't want to participate in couples therapy, but is doing so anyway to be compliant. For Kuno and Eliza, the issue is that Kuno believes Eliza to be a lesbian, and has angry outbursts when she bonds with other girls, suspecting her to be cheating. Both pairs sign up for a sex therapy class in which they are encouraged to participate in group sex with another couple, and end up getting matched with each other. One couple stays together, and another one breaks up, but I WONT TELL WHO since I know you're so intrigued by this blurb that you're going to run out and rent it.

I thought this was a pretty good movie. I loved Macaulay of course, and I really liked Alexis Dziena as his girlfriend. She made the character feel very natural. The fact that I liked her speaks for her acting ability, because she was the type of character whom I generally hate. I don't get the "bad boy" thing and I think it's really annoying when girls date guys who beat up random strangers out of anger & then act surprised when they end up with a black eye. Obviously if he's willing to attack other people he's going to be willing to attack you. There's a scene where she invites her ex boyfriend over for the weekend and has Macaulay drive him home from the airport. A car cuts in front of them, and the ex boyfriend leaps out the car and beats up the driver of the other car. And Alexis gets mad at MACAULAY for "not standing up for himself." I think beating the shit out of a stranger because they cut in front of you on the highway could be classified as an "over reaction" but apparently it's super romantic. Anyway, her performance was very genuine. I liked the other actress a lot, too. The female characters were definitely the most dynamic. For the men, I thought Kuno Becker was pretty flat, but it was passable.

I thought the movie had a pretty good pace - it was mostly dialogue driven, but it never felt slow. However, it's only 81 minutes, so it's quick movie anyway. I didn't like the ending. I guess it was surprising, which could be a good thing, but I felt like a lot of the characters were just continuing on an unhealthy path. Another downside was that the humor is a little cheesy, and a lot of the banter between the couples feels forced.

Overall Quality 3/5 It's pretty entertaining & has some solid acting
Hotties 4/5 Macaulay is hot, but the other guy is totally fug
Lessons 1/5 No one learns anything in this movie