Hill Harper    ...     Michael Joseph
Marlyne Barrett    Jasmine LeJeune (as Marlyne N. Afflack)
Mark Taylor    ...     Glenroy 'Sweets' Lindo
Marieka Weathered    Lisette
Kai Soremekun    Peaches LeJeune
Karen Robinson    Heather Taylor

Jennifer Baxter           Trish Papandreou
Ed Robertson    ...     Kennedy

Jason Harrow    ...     Andre Patterson (as Kardinal Offishall)
Kenny Robinson    Robbie MacKinnon

Ayumi Iizuka    ...     Gemma Dower (as Ayumi Izuka)
Christopher Lee Clements    Phil E. Butts
Neil Crone    ...     Anthony Mingelli

Rated
Rated R for strong sexual content and language

 

Plot

This is an urban comedy about a security guard (Michael Joseph - Hill Harper) that falls in love with a top business executive (Jasmine Lejeune) which would have been well and good if he did not have an addiction. His addiction was pornography and masturbation. As a result, he could not have sex with his girlfriend. He was impotent  and could get aroused only through pornography, amateur sex videos, sex movies and masturbation. Now, we all can see how that could be a problem , particularly since his girlfriend had been celibate (will call it a dry spell because there is more to celibacy than not having sex) and was looking forward to consummating this relationship. His girlfriend tries to help him by acting out some of his sexual fantasies but this does not help. Masturbation addiction and pornography addiction can be a killer in any relationship.

My thoughts:

Now, on first watch this might seem on the pornographic side. Trust me, there is a reason that this is rated R BUT there was really no sexual scene till the end of the movie so you can skip that if you want. What drew our attention to this movie - was its willingness to step away from the obvious and overdone story of poor boy meets rich girl and falls in love. This movie was willing to go into the gray area of impotency, masturbation, pornography, addiction and how it could affect sexual relations. In today's world, actually making pornography and overzealous masturbation problematic in relationships is hardly ever discussed. We are taught to view this as normal and part of healthy sexuality but what happens when this veers away from the normal and gets into the abnormal - in which a person cannot really have a relationship or even have a normal life because they are addicted. We see Michael being unable to hone his craft because he felt called to just keep on watching and acting out. But, one can say that the reason they were able to reach this conclusion is because this movie was made in 2003 and then we were more conservative.

This movie can be placed within the genre of offbeat romantic comedy - so if you are one of those that loved the movie, ‘there’s something about Mary’ , then this should be just right up your alley. The kind of humor we see is more slap stick than really anything. Another reason to watch this movie - HILL HARPER!!!...Oh my goodness, what a fine specimen of manhood...hmm hmmm hmmm hmmm did I say hmm? LOL!!...You don’t even need to listen to the dialogue, just watch his fine self.

To watch Or Not?

Definitely!! But, this isn't a movie to watch with your children.  Personally, despite  or some might say inspite of the sexual content, this movie can be used in Christian counseling or Christian groups.  My thoughts! 

What do you think?  Have you seen it?  Will  you see it?  You can watch it via amazon if you have an amazon account.

(images courtesy of google)