Currently on VOD Sharp Stick is the creator of HBO's Girls and the occasional snobbery. It is the second film directed by its creator, Lena Dunham. stirrer. The film perfectly showcases Dunham's slightly awkward, slightly confessional brand of comedy, starring Christine Frothes (Birds of Paradise) as a 26-year-old virgin trying to expand her sexual experience. Casting as Knife... And of course this is Lena Dunham's project, the story is frank, nasty, provocative and funny, but her first since 2010's Tiny FurnitureBeing a movie, the script may have some rust.
"SHARP STICK": Stream or skip.
Bottom Line: Sarah Joe (Froses) daily bears a cross over the crossed scars on her abdomen from an emergency hysterectomy when she was 15 years old. menopause. She's 26 now, but she looks and acts much younger, girlish prairie Wearing her dress and barrette in her hair, wide-eyed, and doing a lot of things you've never seen before looks like you're ready to see She has her own little apartment in a small complex run by her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh). She's a New Age drivel speaker and New Age aspirant who's outspoken with Sarah Jo's older sister and budding influencer, Traina (Taylor Page). The breakfast table while Sarah Jo shovels a giant spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. The story inevitably goes to sex with men, and her mama reveals, "After being divorced five times in California, I lost a little bit of that tingle."
Sarah Jo takes home her bacon and takes care of her son, Zach (Liam Michelle Soe), who needs special needs for Heather (Dunham), who is months pregnant. I work as a babysitter slash nanny. (Jon Bernthal) helps maintain his status as an immature goof no matter what he does all day. It also helps enable his pivotal role in Sarah Jo's sexual awakening. Taking maturity into account, he's about 17, but considering that she's even younger,Eash
Josh knows what he's into. I know there are She speaks openly about her own immaturity. He says he has been known to do things like put his mouth in a certain spot and move his tongue. He introduces her to her psychedelic drugs and the vast universe of internet her pornography. Thanks to the latter, Sarah Jo can continue her education alone. She ends up with blatant videomeister Vance Leroy (Scott Speedman). He speaks sensitively about emotions, but also has a tattoo of a torn and tough companion. (He is perfect in many ways.) She then makes a checklist of what she wants to accomplish in the field of sexual activity. Meanwhile, Mom isn't a baby shower to celebrate Treyna's abortion, just in case you're not sick enough of everything else in this movie.
What movie does it remind you of? : Sharp Stick has a lot in common withGood Luck, Leo Grande. Talk about straight sex. For that matter, the sex itself. Also,Red Rocket's Vance Leroy and Mikey Saber could be pals, brothers, or the same person.
Notable performances: Bernthal embodies human turmoil with impressive charisma, and Speedman as his Pornville's most compelling man in his POV Steal the scene. Choose what you like.
Memorable Dialogue: "Congratulations, Vance Leroy. You are my porn star.
Gender and Skin : Lots of all types, but nothing graphically frontal in the nude department
Our take: Sharp stick } is about two-thirds of the way through the film, and it's almost as if Dunham throws some ideas in the air and lands.It's awkward, and Sarah Jo feels like a contrived and unlikely character. Of course you shouldn't — in her director's statement, Dunham says Sarah Jo is on a "judgment-free sexual journey." But her interpretation of "blowjob" as the act of forcefully pushing air between her lips is an incredible joke.
So while the film oscillates between the silly and the provocative, it also falls into the uncomfortable tone zone (somewhere between a serious, romantic coming-of-age story and a winking, vulgar John Waters). end up in Josh is more complicated than we first thought. The dynamic of Mama and Treina, observed by Sarah Jo, is compelling, not really part of it. And a more creative use of Vance Leroy could have opened the film to bigger, broader, more ambitious realms of comics. Into a theoretically wild third act where Sarah Jo's arc doesn't offer enough laughs or dramatic revelations to inspire far beyond the shrugging realization that this movie might be over. All these characters beg for further exploration as they ramp up towards, but this young woman's story is just the beginning. I think she's good for her.
OUR CALL: Aside from a few funny and sexy moments,Sharp Stick does not fit perfectly as a narrative or as a way to express our emotions. does not fully attract Please skip.
John Selva is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more about his work at johnserbaatlarge.com
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