by Lauren Bradshaw

“Sex Tape,” directed by Jake Kasdan (“Bad Teacher,” also starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel), takes one “humorous” concept — the unauthorized release of a sex tape — and tries to expand it into a feature-length film. However, due to a lack of chemistry between the lead actors, absurd plot points and unfunny jokes, the film is a lot more yawn/eyeroll-worthy than laugh-worthy.

In fact, I was shocked that “Sex Tape” was a little over 90 minutes. It felt more like 150 minutes. I may have laughed once or twice, but that was mostly at how incredibly formulaic the storyline was; all semblances of originality were left at the door. It’s never a good sign when, on multiple occasions, the audience is able to guess what is about to happen before it happens.

Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay Hargrove (Jason Segel) met in college, and like many young people with raging hormones, they also had a raging sex life. Much to Annie’s parents’ dismay, the couple gets pregnant and, consequently, married too young. Now, about 10 years later, life has made Annie and Jay hit the brakes on their wilder ways.

After all, both lead busy lives. Along with raising two kids, Jay is a music producer and Annie is a “mommy blogger,” who is on the cusp of securing a lucrative business deal with a wholesome company, Piper Bros., run by Hank Rosenbaum (Rob Lowe).

One night, Annie and Jay decide they want to spice up their marriage, so they make a sex tape on Jay’s iPad… a three-hour long sex tape. Unbeknownst to them, the video goes up to the mysterious “cloud” thanks to a new app on the device. This wouldn’t be so bad if Jay hadn’t (for some reason) given his old iPads to friends, family, Hank Rosenbaum and the mailman. Who gives iPads to random people?

The movie tries to explain why Jay didn’t wipe them of personal information first (he has awesome playlists that everyone wants to listen to), but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is an annoying plot contrivance. Anyway, these iPads are still tied to Jay’s “cloud” and thanks to an app, the video is synced to the devices. When the tape gets into the wrong hands, the Hargroves set out to stop the video from going viral before the executives at Piper Bros. see it.

Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel are funny separately, but in this film (mostly due to a below-average script) they weren’t the entertaining comedic duo one might expect.

They also didn’t have great chemistry. Whereas I’ve seen Diaz play hilariously opposite Ben Stiller and Segel play well off of, well, a lot of women… the two did not seem right together in “Sex Tape.” It was hard to care about or believe their relationship because it didn’t feel real; it always felt as though they were actors playing a part. Just when it looked like Rob Corddry and Ellie Kemper, who play the Hargroves’ best friends, may save the movie, of course they were completely underused.

“Sex Tape” is not the hilarious, raunchy comedy it seemingly wants to be. In fact, it is never really anything except a mediocre film that you have seen hundreds of times before. It’s bad enough that the film wasted my time (so is the life of a critic), but it’s another thing to waste great comedic talent. Instead of joining me in a time-sucking vacuum of bad movies, check out “Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me” (Netflix Instant, VOD), in memory of the fantastic comedienne and entertainer. At least that documentary deserves your attention and laughs.

My Review: D+