Review: Sleeping With Other People Is A Fresh Take On The Romcom Genre

Sleeping With Other People
IFC Films
Leslye Headland
Jason Sudeikis, Alison Brie, Adam Scott
101 minutes
4/5 Stars

An updated take on the classic “boy meets girl” format of a romantic comedy, but one that airs on the side of cliche. The romcom, directed by Leslye Headland, follows the not-so-romantic lives of Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Alison Brie) and their navigation through impulse-control issues and an unconventional friendship in a world in which men and women can’t be “just friends.” Sleeping With Other People presents an enjoyable romcom with an almost-too-cliche-but-enjoyably-so story, bookended by compelling acting.

Rather than the traditional “friends with benefits” romcom, this particular film is more “friends without benefits.” Jake (Sudeikis) and Lainey (Brie) lost their virginity to one another during their undergraduate careers at Columbia. Years later, they reunite at a meeting for sex addicts. Jake is a known womanizer and Lainey is in the midst of an affair with an engaged Ob-Gyn (Adam Scott). The pair connects and decide to become friends without benefits. And wit coupled with raunchy humor ensues.

Vocal with their individual plights, Jake and Lainey find best friends in one another, but not before deciding never to have sex with one another. They even develop a safeword, “mousetrap,” used in moments of arousal or sexual tension between the pair. The plot takes it a bit too far when demonstrating the activities the two best friends engage in, even showing Lainey bringing Jake lingerie shopping. Somehow, however, writer-director keeps the tension and “will they won’t they” theme romantically bearable. Of course, it helps that Brie lends such a flighty likeableness to Lainey when she should be intolerable, and Sudeikis uses his boyish charm to offset his character’s narcissistic womanizing.

The pair navigates new relationships together, all the while encountering classic romcom cliches- meet-cutes, late night snuggling without sex, arguing and making up- the standard tropes of a romantic comedy. It is, Headland said, “When Harry Met Sally for assholes.”

Lainey moves to Michigan to pursue her medical school degree and Jake commits to Paula, his boss with whom he begins a relationship. But in Lainey’s absence, Jake runs into her ex (Adam Scott), punches him and says it’s for “my girl.” Paula ends things, and Lainey is back into the picture. The film resolves in their reunion and subsequent relationship and marriage.

Sleeping With Other People is just sweet and funny enough to negate the sickly sweetness of a stereotypical romcom. Sudeikis and Brie are buffeted by a perfectly cast of supporting actors. Jake’s friend Xander, played by Jason Mantzoukas, and his wife Naomi (Andrea Savage) have enough chemistry and witty rapport to nearly steal the show. Perhaps most memorable is their dorky-yet-quirky relationship that makes the film relatable, familiar and humorous, while setting it apart from the unidimensional roles of supporting actors in traditional romantic comedies.

Writer-director Leslye Headland is the playwright behind Bachelorette, a dark comedy that examines female friendships, and was adapted for the screen in 2012. “Bachelorette” has much sharper edges and a darker theme than Sleeping With Other People, but both films maintain a splendid raunchiness and dark wit. Sleeping With Other People is aesthetically similar to Bachelorette, in it’s mainstream, smooth appearance.

As Headland is an experienced playwright, the script is well-written, but at times, a bit overly theatrical. At one point in the film, Lainey says “sometimes I put on lingerie just to feel something.” Though overly theatrical and a bit too intentional, the dialogue is saved by the cast that makes each line feel organic and casual. Through the dialogue, the writing makes each character relatable and enjoyable to watch. The script depicts an atypical romance in which the viewer must root for two unconventional protagonists.

Like Lainey and Jake reluctantly fell for one another, I reluctantly fell for Sleeping With Other People. As a fan of both Sudeikis and Brie with a hesitance toward the genre of the film, my expectations were far exceeded for this film. The charm that Headland, Sudeikis and Brie bring to the film is undeniably enjoyable. This film is a love story as unconventional as it is cliche, the authenticity being the characterization of the two protagonists. It is a fresh take on the romcom formula, focusing on the process and self-examination of love rather than simply falling in love.

Sleeping With Other People is a good film that embraces the dry humor and self-sabotage that accompanies real romance in the 21st century.