I Am A Sex Addict [Import]

"I Am a Sex Addict" is a semi-documentary written and directed by a little bug-eyed dude named Caveh Zahedi. I'd never heard of the guy and only stumbled upon this film because I saw it on the Joblo Release Dates. When I read that Roger Ebert had called the film "Perversely Interesting" I was even more intrigued. The reason I said it's a semi-documentary is because Zahedi is narrating past events that apparently happened in real life, while recreating them onscreen using actors. It's almost like a movie-within-a-movie, except for the whole annoying part of movies like that. In the film, Zahedi plays himself...We're introduced as he's about to get married, it's his third trip down the aisle. He takes us back in time and explains that he was always looking for his soulmate, even as a young kid. He then meets the love of his life, Anna...Problem is, he also meets a french woman named Caroline (Rebecca Lord) that strikes his fancy. He then explains that the actress he cast as Caroline is a pornstar, something he didn't find out until later. He ends up parting ways with Anna and marrying Caroline, all the while becoming increasingly addicted to sex...Especially sex with prostitutes. The film deals with him going through several girlfriends, all the while trying not to give into his addiction completely. The movie is funny, but it's in a deadpan and subtle way. One scene in particular, when Caveh explains that there's a scene where a female character is supposed to give him a b**wjob, but the actress refuses to do it. Instead, he supplies us with a voice-over and asks us to pretend that it's happening. Zahedi also gets some laughs from his facial expressions. I'm not sure just how much of this stuff is true (first the actress being a porn star thing, then he later reveals that one actress who's playing a character with a drinking problem actually has a drinking problem.), but it's still pretty damn entertaining. This movie is very funny and very interesting, no matter how perversely. It's one of the best films of it's kind to come out in 2006.

GRADE: A

I enjoyed this quirky little film. It's a low budget dramatized biopic about the sad love-life of Iranian-American director Caveh Zahedi. He is plagued by what he terms "sex addiction" (He has a prostitute and bl__job fetish). It begins and ends with what hopefully will be his last and finally-successful marriage. It blends original home movie footage with filmed recreations, with Zahedi appearing as subject, actor, director and narrator.

I loved his hapless, self-deprecating, dead-pan nature. As must many women, because he is quite possibly the least physically impressive man I've ever seen; scrawny, puny, close to being a wimp and yet he obviously has something that draws so many beautiful women to him. His ex-wives and girlfriends (they appear on the home movies) are very lovely. I don't know if I'd label him a narcissist but he is certainly obsessed with sex, especially with prostitutes and bl__jobs. The first thing he learns in a foreign country is how to say, "Will you suck my c__k?" in the local language. I love the way he repeatedly delivers the line with that timid, hopeful, earnest look. Luckily he goes to very accomdating places like France, Holland and Germany. And when he visits a European brothel, he's like a kid in a candy store. Although his wives eventually divorce him, they are remarkably tolerant and accomodating - in the film he recounts how his second wife gave him five bj's in succession after he confessed his addiction; although it's true, he doesn't last very long each time - about 15 seconds is all it takes for him to be squealing like a rabbit. His orgasms are hilarious to behold.

To his credit he puts all blame on the broken relationships solely on himself; he doesn't blame his wives or girlfriends at all; in fact he paints them as long-suffering martyrs. Still, laughs and moral issues aside, it is very sad for someone to be so consumed by an obsession that he cannot form a lasting relationship with anyone. Hopefully this final marriage will indeed be his last and he gets to find some peace and satisfaction in life.

Zahedi has an official website and he also writes a blog. If you go there you can read his bio. He actually studied Philosophy at Yale and tried to get apprenticed to Godard (rebuffed). There is a picture of him as a young boy with Woody Allen whom he obviously admires.

IFC presents the film in its original 1.33:1 full screen. Colours are strong and natural. It's generally pleasing on the eye. Only the home movie segments have a large amount of grain. Although the women are shown full-frontal, Zahedi never shows his dumbstick - a black rectangle always blocks it from view. I wonder if that was due to shyness, vanity or an MPAA requirement. The DVD comes with a half-hour long documentary "Shooting I am a Sex Addict" in which Zahedi dissects 3 scenes in the film.

PS: Speaking of blogs and sex, I do hope some studio picks up blogger Zoe Margolis' "Girl With A One Track Mind," and turns that into a film. That would be hilarious. One of the rare women who confesses to being addicted to sex and one of the few blogs that I look forward to reading.

Although a dark comedy with a serious lean toward sexual narcissism, this film's quirks will appeal to those who don't mind exploring those dark corners of one's desires and laughing at their own inadequacies.

Caveh Zahedi is the screenwriter, director, star, and historian regarding his personal battles with sex addiction.

The most entertaining aspects of the film are that it is shot rather unconventionally. Although the film starts with Zahedi talking to the camera, waiting to be married for the third time, the scenes zip back and forth between Zahedi the narrator, Zahedi the actor, and Zahedi the narrator during acting (he'll occasionally stare at the camera and make a rather pithy comment while acting within the framework of the film). Part documentary, part fictional take on his experiences, the film delves deep into sexual promiscuity. Bit by bit we get to watch Zahedi fall into a pit of self-gratification with little or no concern for his girlfriends or wives. That he tries to be "honest" and "open" only shows his continued deep slide into the addictive process. When the women in his life fight with him, he's at a loss to understand why ("But you said I could have sex with a prostitute!")

The comedy is all based around Zahedi's lack of self-control and his relationships based solely on sexual need. Watching him receive oral sex -- his facial expressions and loss of auditory control -- are absolutely hilarious; not to mention his fifteen second rise to orgasm.

The film is edited extremely well, mostly taking place in San Francisco, but also in Paris and a few other locations. The map animation sequences are very nicely done as are a few other animations related to travel and Zahedi's history.

The fact that I AM A SEX ADDICT won the Gotham Award in 2005 for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You should be a useful gauge for those considering this movie as a rental or purchase.