The Opposite Of Sex

Christina Ricci had a great year in 1998. The young actress continued to cast off her youthful image from the Addams Family movies and made a big splash on the independent movie scene, especially in this scathingly witty comedy in which Ricci has the central role. Here she plays Dedee, a buxom, sexually precocious teenager who's pregnant, cynical, and looking for a volunteer father for her unborn child. This takes her to the home of her gay half-brother (Martin Donovan) whose current lover (Ivan Sergei) becomes Dedee's latest target for seduction. That's just the start of the mischief that Dedee so masterfully orchestrates, and Lisa Kudrow (from TV's Friends) is also on hand to deliver some of the movie's most quotable dialogue while fending off the affection of a local policeman played by Lyle Lovett. If all this sounds rather sordid, rest assured that the movie's got a warm heart (well, sort of) beating beneath all of its sharp-edged sarcasm. Writer-director Don Roos (Single White Female) injects most of the movie's appeal and humor through Dedee's voice-over narration, which constantly reminds us that even the most familiar movie clichés can be cleverly overturned. As a result, The Opposite of Sex is the opposite of boring. --Jeff Shannon




A 16 year old Louisiana girl (Christina Ricci) moves in with her homosexual half-brother (Martin Donovan) and immediately starts coming on to his sexual partner (Ivan Sergei), finally forcing him into an affair in which she becomes pregnant. The whole affair blows into a scandal exposing her school teacher brother and the true parent of the child is called into question as it is revealed that there have been a series of lovers. Written by John Sacksteder {jsackste@bellsouth.net}




Christina Ricci stars as a perky teenager who manages to destroy the lives of everyone she meets--including her gay brother (Donovan), his lover (Sergei), and their friend (Kudrow). Written by Ari Herzog {ari@ici.net}




On the death of her stepfather, cynical sexy young Dedee Truitt heads off and moves in with her gay schoolteacher half-brother Bill. Seducing his partner Matt, she then announces she is pregnant, and disappears with him. Bill meanwhile is falsely accused of past sexual misconduct at school by one of Matt's ex-lovers, causing much media attention. As the situation snowballs, the only person who sees what Dedee is up to is Bill's rather frustrated acid-tongued sister-in-law Lucia. Written by Jeremy Perkins {jwp@aber.ac.uk}




SYNOPSIS

The film is a black comedy, narrated by and centred around self-absorbed, manipulative, cynical teenager Dede Truitt (Christina Ricci), who runs away from home after her stepfather's funeral and moves in with her half-brother Bill (Martin Donovan), a teacher in a conservative, suburban community in Indiana.

Dedee seduces Bill's young lover, Matt (Ivan Sergei), then tricks him into believing she has got pregnant by him. In fact, the father of her child is her ex-boyfriend Randy Cates (William Lee Scott). She and Matt elope, leaving Bill and the uptight Lucia (Lisa Kudrow), the sister of Bill's deceased partner Tom, to track them down and sort out the mess. In the meantime, Matt's "bit on the side," Jason Bock (Johnny Galecki), attempts to blackmail Bill, claiming Bill sexually assaulted him while he was a student. Bill and Lucia find Dedee and Matt, only to discover Dedee has stolen Tom's ashes and is holding them for ransom. Randy also finds Dedee; they inform Matt that they are taking the ashes and moving to have the baby elsewhere. They escape but soon get into an argument that leads to Dede accidentally shooting Randy. She and Matt escape to Canada, and Bill eventually finds them.

After the birth of Randy Jr., Dedee returns Tom's ashes to Bill, apologising for her actions in the past year. After a few months in prison, she moves back in with Bill, while Matt and Jason go traveling together, and Lucia marries her old friend Carl (Lyle Lovett). Eventually, Dede decides that Randy Jr. would be better off alone with Bill (who is now dating Dedee's parole officer) and runs away.

Narrating the ending, Dedee sarcastically concludes that sex is precisely the opposite of what people should want, leading as it does to kids, disease or, worst of all, relationships. At the end of the film, the vignettes of the various caring relationships among the characters shows the opposite of superficial sexual gratification. Dede leaves it to the viewer to imagine whether or not she returns to her family.