SEX MONSTER (2 outta 5 stars) No, this is not a porno... except for some four letters words and some swimming pool nudity this is as benign as a typical TV sitcom. Actually, the movie is basically an episode of Bewitched... except instead of the husband being upset about his wife's use of witchcraft he becomes upset at the emergence of her latent lesbianism. Mariel Hemingway actually gives a very good, amusing performance as the prim and proper wife who turns into the insatiable "sex monster" after she gives in to her husband's suggestion of a menage a trois. Unfortunately, writer/director/star Mike Binder's character is a poor cross between Woody Allen and Paul Reiser and doesn't do much to help this film rise about it's poor script. Actually it's not too much of a stretch to imagine Reiser and Helen Hunt playing these roles... it would have made an eye-popping "Mad About You" series finale! Events are about as predictable as you can imagine... husband talks wife into a threesome... wife winds up enjoying it more than the guy... guy starts to feel jealous and inadequate. Hemingway's performance is the only thing that keeps the movie from being a completely tiresome bore... not that I am recommending it... it's just to bad that her still-prodigious screen talent isn't being utilized more.
Review of The Sex Monster
