The average viewer might see this film expecting a salacious treat for the prurient interests but the disappointment disappears rather quickly when they realize that they are watching an expertly crafted (TRANSLATE: HUNGRY!) script turned into a compelling photo-play. Sex, Lies and Videotape takes marital infidelity and sibling rivalry and turns the mixture into dynamite, with one James Spader as the fuse. The tiny cast is rock solid and perfectly matched and the dialogue is efficient and witty. Indeed, there are some lines in this film which will make you either guffaw, get hot and bothered or both at the same time and the process is repeated throughout. Peter Gallagher and sultry Andie McDowell are the dysfunctional couple, with McDowell's character a delightful study in Southern Belle turned frigid neurotic. Add one sly, sultry and slutty kid sister played magnificently by the luscious Laura San Giacomo and the story quickly reaches critical mass when it becomes apparent that hubby and kid sis are getting a little on the sly because wifey spends her time obsessing about suburban minutae and recoiling from her husband's amorous advances. Spader is the old college buddy who arrives in town on a mission to regurgitate the mess that was his past love life which he now uses as the canvas for his self-analysis via a videotape fetish involving a parade of women from coast to coast.

To say that he has "an effect" on the trio is more than an understatement!

Sex, Lies and Videotape is a classic example on how to properly make "a film" tell a story. It is utterly without nudity or special effects and yet you will feel like you've been rode hard and put up wet after seeing it.

See it with your best girl.