Addiction & the Family
After 15 years of marriage High School teacher Joanna Thomas (Lisa Rinna) begins to suspect her husband Cameron (Harry Hamlin) is cheating on her when one day he leaves his bag at home and on following him she sees him going in to an apartment with a blonde woman rather than work. Having confronted him and kicked him out over his infidelity Joanna allows him to return home after a few weeks after he promised it was all over. But it was anything but over as Cameron gets arrested for trying to pick up a prostitute and he is ordered to seek counselling with his wife which is when he is confronted by the truth, he is a sex addict and his actions are both destroying his family and himself.
First things first and when ever a movie features a real life married couple it tends to have something extra about it and with real life husband and wife Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna playing the troubled couple in "Sex, Lies & Obsession" it has that something extra, that spark which makes the interactions feel believable. It is part of the reason why "Sex, Lies & Obsession" works and rises above some very obvious issues which present them selves early on. What I am on about is the opening scene where we watch Cameron is in bed with someone who we quickly discover is not his wife as it is full of corny innuendo about something coming up and it makes it initially feel like a cheesy sex comedy.
Anyway get passed that early poor scene and "Sex, Lies & Obsession" gets interesting because of its presentation of addiction, yes here we have sex addiction but a lot of what is shown is more generic and could refer to drug or gambling addiction. As such we see how Cameron leads a double life where when he leaves his home his addiction controls him and a minor thing can cause him to stray. We see how he can't but help reaching for a fix when he is having a bad time, heading to the red light district after a row and how admitting he has an addiction is hard to do. All the time we get to see how much of a grip it has on Cameron we also see how it destroys the trust he had with Joanna and the conflict it causes with the children.
Now the thing is that "Sex, Lies & Obsession" sounds like it will be a raunchy movie for those who might possibly be seeking some thrills but it is anything but. So for those who see the title and maybe the cover and think sex movie be warned it most certainly isn't but rather an insightful look at addiction and the various aspects of it.
What this all boils down to is that "Sex, Lies & Obsession" is a very good movie and not just an insightful look at sex addiction but addiction as a whole, how it grips an individual and destroys those closest to them.
