From the implication of its title onwards, Sleeping With Other People is very eager to let us know what a modern film it is. As befitting a comedy for grown-ups in 2015, it contains endless one-liners dissecting the sex act in vivid detail, counting on audiences to still find words like “balls” inherently side-splitting. What distinguishes it from the crop of post-Apatow raunch-fests is the amount of jokes that manage to be genuinely perceptive about relationships in 2015.
Unfortunately, the story is a total foregone conclusion. Will these two wild cards end up together? If you’ve ever seen a rom-com you can probably figure it out.
It’s pleasant enough though, thanks mainly to Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis’ low-key, earthy performances. Brie, in particular, makes her character feel real, dialling down the theatricality she showed in TV’s Community and Mad Men to play a character who is wounded while remaining headstrong.
Sudeikis is better than he’s been in any of his prior douche-bro roles, but remains something of an acquired taste. Like Brie he has taken his schtick down a notch, but he’s still very much inside his comfort zone.
When Sleeping With Other People isn’t trying to shock with ribald sex talk, it is quite relatable. But director Leslye Headland seems like she’s constantly hedging her bets by throwing in smutty gags, and the final product teeters between something honest and human, and something that’s trying too hard to please the cheap seats.
‘Sleeping With Other People’ Movie Times
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