Movie Review: "Sleeping With Other People"

Sleeping With Other People is a romantic comedy that’s completely conventional in some ways and totally unconventional in others. Yes, it borrows its structure from When Harry Met Sally and its various imitators. Yes, the way it’s going is somewhat predictable. And yes, sort of falls apart at the end with an overly convoluted third act.

So what makes Sleeping With Other People an unexpected delight? An absolutely top-notch cast, some creativity with character and dialogue, and a very modern, almost feminist take on dating. It’s flawed, yes, but I had a great time.

The film, directed by Leslye Headland — who directed 2012’s very funny Bachelorette- Sleeping With Other People— is a slight twist on the When Harry Met Sally formula. Jake and Lainey (Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie) first meet in college, in a one-night stand in which they lose their virginity to each other.

Years later, they meet again. He a serial womanizer and she a commitment-phobe obsessed with her college ex (Adam Scott.) And yes, I’m wondering how Alison Brie (32) could have possibly gone to college with Jason Sudeikis (40) or Adam Scott (42).

It’s implied that they’re sex addicts, but the film sort of drops that conceit early on. In the meantime, the two reconnect as platonic friends, who advise each other on their various romantic entanglements, and instead of ignoring their sexual tension they talk about it, all the time.

The banter between the two leads is stellar, the product of the actors and fantastic writing from Headland. This film wouldn’t work for a second if Sudeikis and Brie didn’t have strong chemistry with each other, but they do. A specific highlight is a scene in which Sudeikis demonstrates a certain act using a plastic bottle.

The best thing about the movie, by far, is Alison Brie. She’s been a highlight of the entire runs of Mad Men and Community, plus a few standout movie roles, including A Five-Year Engagement (in which Brie and Pratt’s secondary couple were considerably more interesting than the main one, and I wished the movie had been about them.)

But here she finally gets her shot at a leading role, and makes the most of it. As does Sudeikis, most more charming and appealing here than he was in the Horrible Bosses films or in the atrocious, inexplicable hit We’re the Millers.

Jason Mantzoukas and Andrea Savage play a fantastic secondary couple, who in their few scenes represent a more honest and realistic depiction of happy marriage than I’ve seen in quite some time. Scott usually plays roles either as a likable nice guy (Parks and Recreation) or a smirking jerk (Step Brothers, Eastbound & Down, Secret Life of Walter Mitty.) But here he’s a guy who’s so understated and quiet that it’s practically chilling.

The plot does start to fall apart a bit in the last 20 minutes; at one point there’s a perfect ending but the movie ends up continuing for awhile anyway. One thing Sudeikis does, involving his boss (Amanda Peet), is especially odious and the film lets him way too easily for that. But the last scene is good and the post-credits sequence even better.

Despite its imperfections, Sleeping With Other People is one of the better entries in the mini-genre of romantic comedies that are self aware about romantic comedy conventions. And Alison Brie’s performance — and the promise of more like it — is worth the price of admission by itself.

Sleeping With Other People opens Friday.