sex, lies and videotape

There is always a talk about whether Sex, lies and Videotape deserved the praise that it got when it came out. Being more familiar with Steven Soderberg's work now, might seem the accusation to be right, but I can do sense the reception when it came out at that time. A good night sleep always put many movies in perspective to me. I generally don't bother to think too much above the movie after it is over and the next day(I usually watch it late at night), I have a more concrete feeling of how much the movie has worked. Sex, lies and Videotape is a tour de force during its run time, but probably feels a bit too optimistic to my taste now.

Anne & John are an unhappy couple, whose marriage is failing both emotionally and sexually. John meanwhile is having an affair with Anne's sister. Enter Grahan, who is long lost friend of John, who was like John before but no more now, to stay with the couple for few days. The story is about how his appearance catalyzes the change in status quo where everyone is confronted with the truth of their situations. The title Sex, lies and Videotape is a misnomer as the movie is about the alienation that people have and how peoples problem are more likely to be caused by it than about sex, lies and of course videotape. There is a beautiful scene where Anne confronts Graham about how he is trying to get away with people, and Graham explains that though he has some problems(real big problems in fact), but they are his.

Probably this is a thing with Soderberg, since I guess he likes to end his films in a suggestive optimistic way, which did not sit well with the rest of the movie. But the whole narrative structure of the movie is top-notch and I feel its better than both Traffic or Erin Brokovich, that it is far more organic than the other films. I have my doubts about this film, and I might have to return to it to find whether this is as good as I think it is now.