I WANT YOUR SEX (B) - As light as air and as knowingly naughty as a cable-TV sitcom, Greg Araki's "I Want Your Sex" totally fills the bill as a throwaway summer romp about a horrid boss and a young man's introduction to R-rated S&M.
Olivia Wilde, who's having a moment, has a rollicking good time as Erika Tracy, an over-indulged artist who explores overt sexuality in her work merely as a way to make a buck and who is due for a comeuppance. Cooper Hoffman is serviceable as the paid intern, Elliot, who is matter-of-factly recruited by Erika to be her boy toy. He happily complies.
Can you blame the 23-year-old Elliot, who has a dead fish of an academic girlfriend (Charli XCX, not really registering at all), if he starts to fall for the exotic and domineering artist-boss? The sex they have can be arousing, but it has a silly movie quality to it that makes it difficult to take too seriously.
Maybe that is the point intended by Araki, the bad boy of the 1990s, who splashed brashly and colorfully with provocations like "Doom Generation" and "Mysterious Skin." He and co-writer Karley Sciortino certainly fashion a lively flashback-heavy story -- the opening scene features Erika face-down in a swimming pool, unresponsive to Elliot's frantic attempts to revive her -- and while we are eager to find out how this will end, you might struggle to care about what happens to these characters, because nothing important (even various emotional struggles) ever seems to be at stake. Araki makes erotic cartoons for adults, which is fine, but I was not invested in Elliot or Erika like I was the players in, say, the Nicole Kidman vehicle "Babygirl."
Wilde, who directed and lit up the fantastic (and mature) sexual comic-drama "The Invite," is worth the price of admission here, both for her slinky, slimy take on Erika and for her charisma that burns hot the whole movie through. (She is mesmerizing in most of the shapely outfits she is draped in throughout the film, and even makes a simple tank top pop.) Hoffman is workmanlike, but as in previous outings (such as a similar-themed "Licorice Pizza") he proves that he did not get the full set of acting genes from his father, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Things happen around him, and he doesn't fluff his lines, and he is really likable as a shlubby Everyman. Cash that paycheck, son.
The supporting cast steps up a bit. Chase Sui Wonders (Apple TV's "The Studio") is compelling in the limited role of Elliot's platonic pal who gets coerced into the sexual role-play with Erika, to disastrous (and exaggerated) effect. Mason Gooding sinks his teeth into the role of the randy gay fellow peon who develops a charming connection with Elliot. The talents of Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville are completely wasted as detectives questioning Elliot about what happened at Erika's pool. As noted, Charli XCX seems like she's in another movie (and a lower skill tier) than the others, but in her defense, the character of the frigid bookworm who makes zero effort at connection with "boyfriend" Elliot is trite and underwritten. In fact, there are a few cliches that should have been avoided -- such as the non-smoker who has a coughing fit after his first drag, or the downing of half a bottle of brown liquor in short order that would fell a farm animal but barely fazes a couple of lightweights.
We're probably not supposed to think this much about "I Want Your Sex," which is why the review might seem harsh in light of the generous grade. Araki crafts giddy pop-culture nuggets that go down easy. This is a fun story and a zippy 91 minutes of entertainment. Don't sweat the details.
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