Cast: Arye Gross, Courteney Cox, Kevin Pollak, Julie Brown
Director: Matthew Meshekoff
Producers: Robert Newmyer and Stanley M. Brooks
Screenplay: Noah Stern
Cinematography: Jacek Laskus
Music: Ira Newborn
U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
From the moment of their first meeting, David (Arye Gross) and Carrie (Courteney Cox) are hopelessly attracted to each other. The Opposite Sex chronicles their first date, early relationship, first night together, and other aspects of their relationship. Kevin Pollak plays Eli, David's best friend, and Julie Brown is Zoe, Carrie's roommate. These two occasionally help, but more often hinder, the developing romance between David and Carrie.
The Opposite Sex is an occasionally pithy and surprisingly insightful look into the mating game. Similar in style to Singles, this film concentrates on one relationship instead of several. In depicting the various stages of David and Carrie's courtship, The Opposite Sex concentrates on details.
The comedy ranges from wit and satire to belly-laughs. Some of the best moments come when characters break the fourth wall, turning to address the audience in the middle of a scene with humor-laced asides. Two of the more amusing instances involve a profane-but-hilarious parody of Field of Dreams' catch phrase, "If you build it, he will come", and a sequence where David and Carrie become subjects of a nature film crew doing a program on human mating habits.
The four primary cast members do fine jobs. None are well-known actors, although Kevin Pollak has become more recognizable following his role in A Few Good Men. Courteney Cox and Arye Gross find the right balance between drama and comedy, and their chemistry is excellent. Julie Brown and Kevin Pollak, often serving as a kind of "Greek Chorus" to detail the activities of their friends to the audience, are equally proficient.
The production team of The Opposite Sex have created a fresh comedy that, despite losing momentum in the overlong final half, is still worth a look. This may not be the most slickly-produced or original motion picture of the year, but it has a great deal more bite than most films that place themselves in the same genre.
© 1993, 1996 James Berardinelli