Seeing Other People (2004)

The Worst Film Ever

A Masterpiece!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is high on my list of favorite comedies. Its actually been years since I've seen it and I still recommend it to my friends. Strangely it is a mostly unknown film, but it is so darn funny. I love how it deals with that nagging feeling anyone getting married has "Am I ready, what else is out there?". Well, what is out there can be far worse than what you have and very hilarious at the same time.Intelligent comedies like this are a rarity. The reason that they are a rarity is because it is all about the writing and good writers are hard to find.I find it interesting how 90% of the reviews of this film loved it while there are two reviews that absolutely trash it. All I can think of is that those people have rammed any of their doubts about their relationship so deep down into their subconscious that anyone who even remotely gives light to those insecurities will be viciously attacked. The rest of us prefer to laugh it off and chalk it up to being human.

What is the deal with naked man ass in movies, nowadays? When I grew up, a film that featured nudity or partial nudity almost invariably meant unclothed female flesh. Oh sure, you'd occasionally get someone like Mel Gibson who seemed to relish showing off his behind and there'd the occasional bizarre instance, like that time Bruce Willis did full frontal…but nudity in movies used to overwhelmingly be females in various stages of undress.I don't know when it happened, but sometime in the last few years the naked man ass has become a staple of film nudity. I don't know why it happened. I don't know why actors are willing to do it. All I know is that it's really weird.Seeing Other People is a good example of this oddity. It's about Ed and Alice (Jay Mohr and Juliane Nicholson), a couple who've been seeing each other for 5 years and have finally decided to get married. Their relationship has become comfortably happy instead of passionate. They've become the sort of couple who can have a conversation while one is going to the bathroom in front of the other.After watching two people have sex at her engagement party, Alice decides that she needs more sexual experience before getting married. So, she convinces Ed that they both need to go out and have sex with other people. Now, I've seen this particular plot before and while I can almost imagine two people in love deciding to do something that self-destructive…in every story it's always the woman who has to persuade the man that sleeping around is a good idea, and that just stretches credulity past the breaking point.The story has Alice going out and having sex first, while Ed can't even consummate the act the first time he tries with another woman. Eventually, Ed gets over that and starts nailing every women he can, while Alice is stuck in a relationship with the first needy guy she bedded. After spending some time with the brutally unhappy marriage of Alice's sister Clare (Lauren Graham) and watching Ed's friend Carl (Andy Ricter) get involved with a single mother, we get to the twin morals of Seeing Other People. The movie doesn't think that sleeping around is wrong in any way, it's just that there's not enough time in the day to have a relationship with one person and sex with a bunch of others. In other words, it makes a purely logistical argument for fidelity. The movie also contends that you don't stay with someone because you want to be with them, but because finding another normal person to be with is just too damn hard. If you can get past those questionable messages and the fact that there are about 5 or 6 six times in the film where the characters have to act like complete morons to keep the story going, Seeing Other People is mildly entertaining.Getting back to the subject of naked man ass, you see Jay Mohr's bare behind on multiple occasions. They also show off the posterior of Bryan Cranston, the dude from Breaking Bad. Thankfully, Andy Ricter's bottom remains completely covered at all times. But I would like someone to explain to me the utility of having stand-up comedian Mohr and middle aged character actor Cranston dropping trou in a film, while two profoundly pretty women like Juliane Nicholson and Lauren Graham remain fully clothed at all times. The only female nudity in the movie comes from two actresses playing bit parts, roles that pretty much only exist for them to show off their breasts, so it's not even like there's some sort of feminist point to having the actors get naked and not the actresses. What exactly is going on? And by the way, shouldn't the Screen Actors Guild be working to get some rules in place that if an actor or actress does get naked on screen, they receive a minimum amount of screen time and a minimum number of lines? Is it really fair to put aspiring actresses in the position where showing off their upper front is required for roles that have then on screen for less than a minute or two? The politics of movie nudity aside, Seeing Other People is a strangely depressing look at the necessity of fidelity. It's the kind of movie that makes you wonder how screwed up the filmmakers have to be to come up with something like this.

Seeing Other People takes a fresh look at the long term commitment angle, bringing out in the open what other movies just hint at; the idea that a long term relationship may suffer if there is a marked difference between the two partners in terms of past sexual experience.This being the case, the movie shows one young couple who decides to avail themselves of one last opportunity before marriage to see other people (hence the title).While there is some good writing, some of it also clunky, and the acting can be uneven at times as well, but overall the movie is an enjoyable watch. Indie Movie Mania dot com has an interesting take on the movie as well.

Plot: Ed and Alice are engaged. They live together and are living the dull life. He has slept around before meeting Alice. She has a lot less experience. She decides she needs to sleep around before marrying. He very reluctantly agrees they should both see other people for a while. At first he is not really into it. His wild days are behind him and he is simply content. Until one day Alice comes back and tells him she made out with some random guy; who of course starts to fall for her. Of course this is a BAD idea which causes extreme strain on the relationship.Good movie. You can see the train wreck coming but still good.Worth a rental.