Film Roar

The Opposite of Sex (1998)

Having seen the wooden performance by Christina Ricci in the movie Pecker (1998) left such a bad taste in my mind that I felt the need for something sweet to clean the palette out. A quick look at Ricci's filmography gave me a good selection of titles with strong performances. I went to my local library and found that sure enough they had a copy of what is probably one of Ricci's best performances: The Opposite of Sex (1998).

The story of The Opposite of Sex is far from typical. Ricci plays Dede Truitt, a fiery sixteen year old who runs away from home to move in with Bill, her gay wealthy half-brother played by Martin Donovan. Once she has settled in, Dede proceeds to seduce his dim-witted boyfriend Matt (Ivan Sergei) and eventually gets pregnant and takes off with $20,000 taken out of the brother's safe and the boyfriend in tow. The story unravels (or rather ravels further) as Bill is blackmailed by Ivan's other boyfriend Jason (Johnny Galecki) forcing Bill along with his best friend Lucia (Lisa Kudrow) and the town Sheriff Carl (Lyle Lovett) to travel to California in search for the wayward couple. While Bill is sedate and melancholy through most of the movie, every other character is rich and full of, well, character.

Aside from an interesting story and great writing, what makes The Opposite of Sex a top-notch movie is how well it is cast. Dede is a conniving catty little home wrecker but Ricci infuses her with just enough charisma to keep you from despising her as she systematically destroys people's lives. Both Matt and Jason are beautifully carefree idiots who while bumbling their way through keep an innocence that makes them lovable. Carl has a moroseness and depth that is not at all trivial to portray but that Lovett carries through in top fashion. The best performance in the group though probably comes from Kudrow as the bitter sexually repressed school teacher with an intolerance for misbehavior so deep seated that it is constantly present in her biting criticisms of those around her. If all you know of Kudrow is her dumb blonde act from "Friends" (1994) and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) then you should do yourself the favor of taking the time to go watch The Opposite of Sex.