Two sex addicts have a hard time keeping away from each other. It’s not exactly what you had in mind for a romantic comedy, but that’s the imperfect beauty of this movie. Sleeping With Other People is the anti-romantic comedy, so it is perfectly catered to both students in a relationship and those not looking for anything serious.
Sleeping With Other People perfectly features Jason Sudeikis in his element. The Horrible Bosses star continues to give the audience something to laugh at as they slowly fall in love with his character. He plays a smooth-talking womanizer who loses his virginity to a serial cheating kindergarten teacher (Alison Brie). After running into each other at a sex addicts meeting, they decide the best way for them to get over their love and sex addictions is for them to become best friends. Friendship, and healing and lots of sex jokes ensue.
At first, viewers don’t know what to think. The opening sex scenes can make students wonder what they just took their new dorm friends to see, but they quickly learn how important the rawness of sex is to this movie. Sleeping With Other People tackles the taboo subject of sex and does a tremendous job making the audience feel totally comfortable. Making sex an open discussion has been an ongoing battle. In fact, ASU organization Devils in the Bedroom has hosted a number of events around ASU to start an open conversation about sex so students are not afraid to ask questions. Sleeping With Other People allows the audience to see this in action. Jake and Lainey, the leading characters, are two friends who are not afraid to share their insecurities, tips and techniques about sex, and the audience gets to see how great of a friendship two people can have if they are open with each other.
They key to this movie’s success is the dialogue. There are no awkward moments in this movie because of the character’s quick ability to lighten any topic with humor. Their quick-witted banter is enough to get anyone laughing. Throughout the movie, you get to watch the characters be funny and free, while also dealing with some hard times. Jake is the guy we love to hate. He’s rude, insulting, but oh-so charming. Ladies of ASU, you know this guy. He always jokes around with you, you get to have deep conversations, but he is always running around with other girls and isn’t looking for anything serious. It drives us crazy, but Jake’s relatable character entices the audience to crave for the little moments of romance.
We all wish we had a best friend like Lainey’s. Even as a minor character, she’s everything we wish we had in a best girlfriend. She leaves you alone, but calls you to check up on you, makes sure you’re taken care of and isn’t afraid to say anything. While her advice is questionable (i.e. sexual anorexia), you take it with a grain of salt and graciously accept it anyway.
Humor aside, Sleeping With Other People covers a very real issue many college women face every day. No, it’s not the issue of hooking up, virginity or choosing between the guy you love or your career. Lainey gets panic attacks when she sees the man that mistreated her. She isn’t the stereotypical cry-over-Ben-and-Jerry’s breakup girl; she actually has severe anxiety when he is around. This further proves that this romantic comedy does not sugar coat anything and gives college women a story to fall in love with while they relate to the characters’ struggles.
Sleeping With Other People hit relationship hiccups right in the head. The second-guessing and DTR talks that everyone is having in real life gets skipped over and is now freshly presented in a more realistic way. Lainey and Jake’s friendship and interactions are very normal, and not like typical romantic comedy couples at all. We loved seeing characters that were imperfect and making mistakes, as well as living out the consequences of their mistakes, just like in real life.
Sleeping With Other People opens on September 18 in select Valley theaters.