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Sexy Evil Genius

Score: 75%
Rating: R
Publisher: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 90 Mins.
Genre: Drama/Mystery
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio,
           English 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Features:

  • Award-Winning Documentary "Juijitsu-ing Reality"
  • Audio Commentary with Director Shawn Piller, Seth Green and Harold Perrineau

Sexy Evil Genius is a movie that left me with some mixed feelings. For one thing, it has a very indie vibe to it, but given the cast and distinct lack of laurels, it doesn't quite fit into that particular niche.

Sexy Evil Genius is about an unexpected gathering of one person's former lovers and the conversations and revelations that come from those exes talking to each other. Actually, to say that it is unexpected isn't quite right, as the meetup is completely orchestrated by their common friend, so of course, the first question is why.

Nikki (Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica note) has three former lovers at this meeting. Her high school sweetheart, Zachary (Seth Green), her post-rehab lesbian experiment, Miranda (Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, EuroTrip) and the soulful jazz musician, Marvin (Harold Perrineau, Lost). When the trio first meet in the hole-in-the-wall bar, they realize that Nikki has scheduled their arrivals to give each of them time to get to know the others and learn just how different she was in each relationship. For one thing, Marvin felt completely duped since Nikki apparently has no actual interest in jazz and prefers classic rock over anything with "soul." Zach is completely dumbfounded by the strange life that his first love led after she dumped him in their senior year and even Miranda, one of Nikki's most recent love interests, learns of some of Nikki's past events that she had no clue about.

As the group talk, they also learn that Nikki apparently spent some time in a mental ward after killing one of her other lovers, Mark (Anthony Michael Hall, The Dead Zone). Of course, the question of Nikki's sanity starts to be brought up, and this is a question that will be a major part of the rest of the film, especially when Nikki's true reason for bringing everyone together becomes clear.

When Nikki does finally arrive at the party, it is with her fiance, Bert (William Baldwin), in tow. The exes soon realize that Bert is the same lawyer that got Nikki out of the mental institute, and all but Nikki wonder if that was the right thing to do. At first, the impromptu dinner party seems to be a way for Bert to get to know the people of Nikki's past, but as the group talks, everyone becomes more and more anxious about what the real plan being worked out in the apparently crazy Nikki's brain happens to be.

Sexy Evil Genius's special features are light, but there isn't really a lot to add on to this movie. Besides an audio commentary with Green, Perrineau and Director Shawn Piller, the DVD also offers a documentary on the film's writer, Scott Lew and about how he handles the ALS (AKA Lou Gehrig's Disease) that has been a part of his life for the past 10 years.

While Sexy Evil Genius has some scenes that take place outside of the bar (typically just flashbacks), it is essentially a movie about five people sitting around a table and talking. Even so, I found that it did a good job of keeping my interest, but I wouldn't say it was anything spectacular. Most of the credit for the film's ability to keep my attention has to be attributed to the actors. I found most of the main characters to be dead on, and the only exceptions I see are Sackoff and, to a lesser degree, Trachtenberg. Even though I haven't seen Sackoff in any major roles since BSG ended, I had hoped that she wouldn't be quite the over-actor that she was in the Sci-Fi Channel series, but alas, that isn't the case.

As for Tractenberg, I've been a fan of hers since the early days when she was on Nickelodeon on The Adventures of Pete & Pete and in Harriet the Spy and, of course, Buffy, and maybe that's my problem with her role. To me, she still feels like that little girl, and when I see her in the kind of roles she plays in Sexy Evil Genius, it just doesn't feel quite right.

All-in-all, Sexy Evil Genius is a rental at best and then only if you are interested in how this particular mix of actors work together. For the most part, I enjoyed the film, but it isn't something I would recommend as a must-see.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

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