Shortbus

It’s virtually impossible to envision Shortbus appealing to anyone outside of an extremely specific demographic, as the film has little to offer in terms of even the most basic cinematic requirements (ie plot, character development, interesting visuals, etc, etc). Writer/director John Cameron Mitchell has compiled an astounding assortment of unpleasant characters and thrown them into a story that couldn’t possibly be less compelling. Set in and around New York City, the movie follows couples therapist Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) as she attempts to experience an orgasm for the first time in her life. Also thrown into the mix is a gay couple (played by Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy) that wants to spice up their relationship with a new partner and a lonely dominatrix (Lindsay Beamish) who lives in a storage unit. Mitchell infuses Shortbus with an off-putting, distinctly low-rent sensibility that’s echoed in the almost uniformly amateurish performances, something that’s undoubtedly due to the inclusion of hardcore sex scenes within the film’s script (one would imagine it’s quite difficult finding actual actors who are willing to fornicate on camera). The final straw comes with the Magnolia-esque conclusion in which the various characters descend on the titular sex club and experience a simultaneous catharsis that comes off as utterly meaningless and kind of desperate, as the film hasn’t earned the right to include such a sequence. There’s no authenticity to anything within Shortbus; Mitchell’s interest seems to lie solely in pushing his own agenda, with the end result a movie that has little to offer all but the most avant garde viewer.

* out of ****