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Seeing Other People

 
Movies:

Seeing Other People

  • Director: Wallace Wolodarsky
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: Romance
  • Movie Type: Sex Comedy, Romantic Comedy
  • Themes: Playing the Field, Wedding Bells, Suburban Dysfunction
  • Main Cast: Jay Mohr, Julianne Nicholson, Josh Charles, Andy Richter, Lauren Graham
  • Release Year: 2004
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 90 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Directed by Wallace Wolodarsky, Seeing Other People features Jay Mohr and Julianne Nicholson as Ed and Alice, a soon-to-be married couple with one rather significant problem facing them: Alice doesn't think she's had enough sex to excuse settling down with one man for the rest of her life. Though reluctant, Ed agrees, at Alice's insistence, to have a premarital free-for-all of sorts; a period in which both Alice and Ed are allowed to explore sexual and emotional relationships with other people. Complications ensue when it turns out that fooling around with multiple partners as a method of strengthening the sanctity of marriage isn't as easy as it appeared. Seeing Other People also stars Lauren Graham, Bryan Cranston, Josh Charles, and Matthew Davis. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Review

Seeing Other People is a triumph for writer/director Wallace Wolodarsky, not only on its own terms, but also as a leap forward from his most recent stint in the director's chair, the infantile comedy Sorority Boys. From its cast to its dialogue to its intelligent framing and editing, Seeing Other People is a Sundance natural, a near prototype of the indie relationship dramedy. Its premise is a little too fraught with peril for a normal couple like Ed and Alice, but Jay Mohr and Julianne Nicholson sell it with earnest performances. A good-guy role is a refreshing change for Mohr, who's usually asked to play the smarmy fast talker. His well-meaning character gets twisted around by the unnatural requirements of a no-win situation. He's damned if he watches his fiancée have all the fun, which feeds his jealousy, but also if he adds more notches to his bedpost, which feeds hers, not to mention widening the experience gap between them. Nicholson, on the other hand, is in it for this kind of conquest-oriented numbers game, but discovers herself forming a second monogamous relationship that illustrates the failings of her first. As the roles flip-flop and numerous side characters get entangled in their experiment, Wolodarsky examines the notion of fidelity from every angle, with rich results. He's even got time for the parallel story of a romance sputtering to life between Ed's friend (Andy Richter) and a single mother (Helen Slater). It's comparatively dull, having slipped almost immediately into the comfortable, cereal-eating boredom of a stale marriage. But Wolodarsky implies that this may be as functional as relationships get, in a world where people judge their ideas of love and sex by the unattainable standards of movies and television. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Cast

Bryan Cranston - Peter; Niki J. Crawford - Venita; Matthew Davis - Donald; Jonathan Davis - Ricky; Helen Slater - Penelope; Jill Ritchie - Sandy; Dylan McLaughlin; Mimi Rogers; Liz Phair

Credit

Kate Bunch - Art Director, Judy Oseransky - Associate Producer, Karen Meisels - Casting, Richard Schor - Co-producer, Jacqueline Saint Anne - Costume Designer, George Bamber - First Assistant Director, Wallace Wolodarsky - Director, Stewart Schill - Editor, Dan Kaplow - Executive Producer, Maya Forbes - Executive Producer, Vivian Cannon - Executive Producer, Alan Elliott - Composer (Music Score), Dan Butts - Production Designer, Mark Doering-Powell - Cinematographer, Gavin Polone - Producer, Kenneth McLaughlin - Sound/Sound Designer, Wallace Wolodarsky - Screenwriter, Maya Forbes - Screenwriter, Wilson Dyer - Supervising Sound Editor

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Wikipedia: Seeing Other People
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Seeing Other People
Directed by Wallace Wolodarsky
Written by Maya Forbes Wallace Wolodarsky
Starring See below
Music by Alan Elliott
Release date(s) 2004
Running time 90 min
Language English

Seeing Other People is a comedy film about a couple that decide to see other people two months before their wedding. It was released in 2004, and is rated R.

Main cast


Plot

Ed and Alice are in love. Not passionate, ripping-clothes-off in love. But they do laundry on Saturday, do small things that make each other happy. At their engagement party, Alice sees a friend hook up with a server and comes to the conclusion that she would like to try more sexual partners before she settles down for the rest of her life.

Ed, initially resistant to the idea of seeing other people, decides to go along with it. Alice takes the lead by making out with a friend's contractor, Donald. When she tells Ed, he is shocked but incredibly turned on. They have some of the best sex they've had in years.

Ed attempts to have sex with an actress at work but can't perform. Alice finally psyches herself up to having sex with Donald at his house. She leaves satisfied but hurriedly, while Donald clearly has fallen for her.

That night, Alice tells Ed that she had sex with Donald. Ed never thought she would actually go that far. Upset, he leaves. He tries to hook up with different girls at a house party with his friend Carl but none of his attempts go well. He returns home to find Alice trying to call off the whole deal. Ed tells her that she's right and that he overreacted. But he says that they should continue the deal until she is completely satisfied so they have no regrets.

The next day, Ed succeeds in having sex with the actress. When he tells Alice, he expects her to be jealous, but instead she is turned on. They again have sex and believe things to be going well. Having sex outside their relationship is improving their own sex life.

Carl observes a woman (Penelope) in a stereo store who is being pressured by an overzealous sales clerk. He helps install a new system for Penelope and her son Jake. Jake is angry at his mother because of her recent divorce.

Ed has a date a restaurant and turns out to be seated next to Alice and Donald. It's uncomfortable. Later, waiting for their cars, Ed and Alice talk. Ed is upset that Alice is seeing Donald, and she is upset that Ed has slept with so many women. Ed says they are supposed to be sleeping with other people but she is just sleeping with one, as if it's a relationship. She says it's hard to sleep with other people with him living in the house. Ed agrees to move out.

Alice is growing tired of Donald because he is needy. Ed is getting tired of meaningless sex. He eventually starts dating a woman named Sandy and grows to like her more and more.

Breaking it off with Donald after finding out that he dates other women, Alice tries to get back with Ed. Ed however, has feelings for Sandy at this point.

But she is not quite what she seems. After a failed three-way in which the third girl straps on a dildo, Sandy suggests they try crack cocaine.

In a self-destructive impulse, Alice tries to sleep with her sister's husband Peter. Her sister is having an affair with Ed's friend Lou. She shows up and all is revealed. Alice misses how comfortable and happy she used to be.

Ed ends up stranded when Sandy runs off with his car after stealing a bag of crack. He walks all night and arrives at Alice's house just as everyone else is leaving. He pulls out a book of stamps that he bought weeks ago because he knew it to be one of the small things she loves. They sit side by side, not entirely sure where they go from here.

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