''Investigating Sex'' is a 2001

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

written and directed by

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He be ...

, starring

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

Til Schweiger Tilman Valentin Schweiger (; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor, voice actor and filmmaker. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin. Early life Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers. He grew ...

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

and

Dermot Mulroney Dermot Mulroney (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in romantic comedy, western, and drama films. Appearing on screen since 1986, he is known for his work in various films such as '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' Stay ...

. The film is based on ''Investigating Sex: Surrealist Research 1928-1932'', a book of Surrealist writers' discussions about sex led by

André Breton André Robert Breton (; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') o ...

and compiled by Jose Pierre.

Background

After Rudolph received a copy of Pierre's book from actor

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

, he and Michael Henry Wilson adapted it as a screenplay. They created fictional characters for the dialogues and moved the setting to New England. Campbell, who played a stenographer, described the film as a "no money, no nothing film, but a really great acting exercise." After a long delay, the film was released on DVD in the U.S. on December 23, 2007 with a different title, ''Intimate Affairs''.

Plot

Set in the year 1929 in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, Edgar Faldo is a young

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

who decides to assemble a group of friends at his family mansion to discuss the topic of sex and its advantages. Edgar hires two young women to work as stenographers to record the daily debates that his friends discuss to scientifically study sex. The two women, the sexually active Zoe and the frigid-plain Alice, have mixed feelings being around as Edgar brings over three of his friends, who include oddball English artist Sevy, German writer and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Monty, and fellow professor Peter. Edgar's father, Mr. Faldo, shows up with his new trophy wife, Sasha, to oversee the events as others who are Lorenz, Oscar, Sevy's wife Janet, and Edgar's disapproving French girlfriend, Chloe, all turn up during different meeting sessions to talk and interact with everyone on the taboos spoken for the "experiment" as Edgar puts it.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews. ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

'' called it "one of the most enjoyable movies of the year," praising Rudolph's

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

-like dialogue. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' panned it as "too dated, and far too timid, to spark any real exploration of mind or body."

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

The AV Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, reviewing the DVD release, called the film a "pleasant surprise," likening it to "'' Kinsey'' re-imagined as a goofy sex comedy."

References

External links

* * 2001 films 2001 comedy-drama films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Alan Rudolph Films based on French novels American comedy-drama films Films set in 1929 Films set in Massachusetts 2001 comedy films 2001 drama films 2000s American films {{2000s-comedy-drama-film-stub