Whipped

A foul mouthed comedy that almost works. Definitely not for the PC crowd, “Whipped” is a movie that revels in its obsession with sex--and talking about sex. For that reason, it seems to have drawn a lot of fire from delicate eared viewers. Made in 1999, but just now released (maybe because the summer movies of 2000 have been so dreadfully weak?), the picture starts strongly, but loses focus and derails by the end. Writer-director Cohen has a good ear for (foul) dialogue, and a pretty sharp eye. He invests the movie with a lot of energy, uses the New York locale well, and gets away with some directorial tricks that actually give us some insight into the characters, instead of merely distracting us. Brad, Jonathan, and Zeke are three friends who meet every Sunday for breakfast to discuss their sex adventures of the week past. Brad is the hunky wall street type, Zeke the Greenwich Village bohemian type, and Jonathan the sensitive artistic type. I use the word type advisedly, because these characters are types, no question about it.

Still, they are sharply written, and the three actors bring them effectively to life. The least convincing character is Eric, a charter member of this group of would-be Lotharios, now reduced to hanger-on status because he is-- gosh! --married (which, in the movie’s view, holds about as much appeal as a Turkish prison). Eric is a caricature, not a character, and the movie would have had more weight if they had given him something approximating equal time, instead of portraying him as a complete buffoon. The jokes at his expense are the most shopworn. Is it so inconceivable that a married person might actually have some insight into the relationships between men and women? Apparently it is. Brad, Zeke, and Jonathan are constantly on the make--“scamming,” in the lingo--and they treat the women they meet rather shabbily, though probably no more so than a lot of twenty and thirty-something men in New York (the movie offers what may be an uncomfortably accurate depiction of the way many men view women). They scam together and they scam separately, and though they profess to be looking for that one special woman to whom they can relate as a person, none of them seems all that interested in really finding her. They are too self-centered for that. Then they meet Mia.

Which is to say, they all meet Mia. Mia, played by Amanda Peet, is not only beautiful, but seems to connect with each of the guys in a unique way. When they show up at their next bull session, each of them describes meeting someone about whom they feel “different.” The joke, of course, is that they have all met the same woman, only they don’t know it yet. Had the movie left it at that, and tried to truly explore the ways these three guys come to terms with their new feelings--not to mention the way they grapple with the conflicts that Mia creates between them--it might have been a fresh take on the wars between the sexes. (See The Tao of Steve.) Instead, Cohen takes the easier route, settling for a comedy that is more Machiavellian but also, ultimately, less satisfying. The picture turns on a plot twist that I won’t give away, and, although it has more than its share of smart, funny lines (though, be warned, it is exceptionally crude), it also goes after more than its share of easy targets.

The picture seems to think it shows Brad, Zeke, and Jonathan getting a lesson in life and love, but in the end, it’s not clear that they have learned anything at all, and neither have we. The sexual comeuppance of a bunch of jerks is not necessarily a good foundation for a probing look at human relationships. So, is the movie, as has been charged, sexist? In one sense, perhaps, because it demonstrates that both men and women can be jerks. “Whipped” is clever enough, but never really makes it out of the minor leagues. Cohen has talent, but needs to develop material that offers something more than just dirty jokes. Both he and his excellent cast can do better.