The opposite of awful

I rented this movie mainly because of the fantastic word of mouth it got, not expecting it to live up to the praise lavished upon it by the critics. However, I got what I expected and then some. THE OPPOSITE OF SEX is a clever story about a sixteen-year-old girl, Dedee [Christina Ricci, who also narrates the movie... this is one of the movies where a narrator works well], who leaves her home in small-town Louisiana to visit her gay half-brother, Bill [Martin Donovan].

Once ensconced at Bill's home, she seduces his boyfriend, eventually running away with him to California. She ends up pregnant, unleashing a whole series of disasters for everyone involved.

Accompanying Bill in his pursuit of his sister is Lucia, his prudish best friend, played WONDERFULLY by Lisa Kudrow. She drops her ditz act [which has served her so well in FRIENDS, MAD ABOUT YOU, and ROMY AND MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION] in this film, and does it well. In fact, one of the highlights of SEX is her monologue about how she doesn't "get" sex. It's unique, it's intelligent, it's funny, it has a good point, and it is not something you would ever expect to hear in one of today's sex-crazed pictures.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys comedies that actually make you think as well as laugh. If you liked AMERICAN BEAUTY, you'll like THE OPPOSITE OF SEX.