This is the IMDb summary for "Sex Tape": "A married couple wake up to discover that the sex tape they made the evening before has gone missing, leading to a frantic search for its whereabouts." That's kind of true, but the real story is that Annie and Jay (Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel) record a sexually explicit video on Jay's iPad and the resulting clip gets uploaded to the cloud, where it then downloads onto the multiple iPads Jason has given out as gifts over the years. If the tech sounds wrong, that's because it is: GQ.com debunked "Sex Tape" before it was released, because in 2014 most people know how cloud backups works even if this movie does not. (This is to say nothing about the fact that Jay gives out used iPads as presents.) What will ticket buyers enjoy when they see "Sex Tape" this weekend? Well, these four parts, at least.
Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel Get Along!
The old adage about actors earning their big salaries for participating in the publicity tour has never been more apparent than with "Sex Tape." Stars Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel have promoted this movie across all platforms and mediums, including a stop by the offices of The Huffington Post. Fortunately, Diaz and Segel seem to love each other's company. That comes across onscreen too, as the rapport between these two comedy stars is the best part of "Sex Tape." Even when the film's script sags, drags and makes little narrative sense -- all frequent occurrences -- Diaz and Segel bat around the dialogue with passion, and their characters' relationship is a real strong point.
Ellie Kemper & Rob Corddry Really Get Along!
Kemper and Corddry play a couple that is good friends with Annie and Jay, and they're funny enough together to warrant a spin-off movie. "Oh my gosh. Can you pitch that somewhere?" Kemper told Mike Ryan at ScreenCrush.com when he made that same statement during an interview. We'll email Sony right now.
It's Better Than "A Million Ways To Die In The West"
"Sex Tape" has a 16 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, about one-half of what "A Million Ways to Die in the West" scored on the review aggregation site. Don't believe the critics. This movie is way better than Seth MacFarlane's Western "comedy," which had zero laughs throughout its interminable running time. (We sat stone-faced through that mess.) "Sex Tape," by contrast, elicited a few chuckles! And while it doesn't exist in any recognizable world and isn't very good, "Sex Tape" at least tries to make some interesting points about long-term relationships and sex within marriage. "A Million Ways to Die in the West" has a lot to say about poop.
Did We Mention That Cameron Diaz & Jason Segel Get Along?
Because they do.