The Opposite of Sex (1998)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Don Roos

Writer (WGA):

Don Roos (written by)

Release Date:

22 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be offended

Plot:

A 16-year-old girl visits her gay half-brother and ends up seducing his boyfriend, thus wreaking havoc on all of their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Half Brother | Gay | Death | Homosexual | Teacher

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 11 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Christina Ricci	...	Dede Truitt
Martin Donovan	...	Bill Truitt
Lisa Kudrow	...	Lucia DeLury
Lyle Lovett	...	Sheriff Carl Tippett
Johnny Galecki	...	Jason Bock
William Lee Scott	...	Randy 'One Ball' Cates
Ivan Sergei	...	Matt Mateo
Megan Blake	...	Bobette
Colin Ferguson	...	Tom DeLury
Dan Bucatinsky	...	Timothy
Chauncey Leopardi	...	Joe
Rodney Eastman	...	Ty
Heather Fairfield	...	Jennifer Oakes
Amy Atkins	...	TV Reporter
Leslie Grossman	...	Girl Student
Emily Newman	...	Marcia Delury
Harrison Young	...	Medical Examiner
Pancho Demmings	...	Police Officer
Terry L. Rose	...	Palm Springs Harley Man
Richard Moore	...	Palm Springs Harley Man #2
Susan Leslie	...	Policewoman Judy Zale
Margaux St. Ledger	...	Reporter
Leslie Bevis	...	World News Reporter
Nicole Tocantins	...	Bobette's Lawyer
Becky Wahlstrom	...	Cashier
Peter Spears	...	Dr. Allen
Kristine Keever	...	Nurse (voice)
David Phelps-Williams	...	School Principal
Todd Eckert	...	Parole Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lawrence Gaughan	...	Reporter (uncredited)
David Gibbs	...	Driver (uncredited)
Heather Lee	...	Tricia Delury (uncredited)
John F. McCormick	...	Flashback Dad (uncredited)

Directed by
Don Roos

Writing credits (WGA)
Don Roos		(written by)

Produced by
Michael Besman	....	producer
Steve Danton	....	executive producer
David Kirkpatrick	....	producer
Jim Lotfi	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mason Daring

Cinematography by
Hubert Taczanowski		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
David Codron

Casting by
Amanda Mackey Johnson
Cathy Sandrich

Production Design by
Michael Paul Clausen		(as Michael Clausen)

Set Decoration by
Kristin Peterson

Costume Design by
Peter Mitchell

Makeup Department
Daniel Curet	....	key hair stylist
Brigitte Hennech	....	assistant makeup artist
Sergio Lopez-Rivera	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
David Codron	....	post-production supervisor
Jim Lotfi	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Danton	....	first assistant director
Susan J. Hellmann	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Angel Acosta	....	property master
Jami Anderson	....	on-set dresser
Matthew Ferreira	....	set dresser
Humberto Jimenez	....	construction coordinator
Kay Kropp	....	lead painter
Portia Perry	....	set painter
Andrew Reeder	....	set designer
Sheri Watson	....	set decoration buyer
Micah May	....	assistant props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jon Ailetcher	....	production sound mixer
David W. Alstadter	....	foley mixer
Andre Bacha	....	dialogue editor
Ron Bedrosian	....	adr mixer
Gary Boatner	....	boom operator
Mark Choi	....	sound effects editor
Rickley W. Dumm	....	first assistant sound editor
Arthur Farkas	....	dialogue editor
Eric Flickinger	....	sound recordist
Frank Gaeta	....	sound effects editor
Catherine Harper	....	foley artist
J. Stanley Johnston	....	sound re-recording mixer
Trevor Jolly	....	dialogue editor
Trevor Jolly	....	sound supervisor
Shawn Kennelly	....	dialogue assistant
Gerry Lentz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kimaree Long	....	adr editor
Julie Lucas	....	foley assistant
James Moriana	....	foley artist
Scott Sanders	....	sound effects editor
Jackson Schwartz	....	adr mixer
David Spybrook	....	adr recordist

Stunts
Gary J. Wayton	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Bob Akester	....	still photographer
Yoram Astrakhan	....	director of photography: second unit
Yoram Astrakhan	....	gaffer
Hector Corona	....	best boy electric
Debbie Davidian	....	second assistant camera
Kenn Ferro	....	Steadicam operator
Brady Harris	....	electrician
Brad Heiner	....	key grip
Andrew Naidl	....	camera loader
Robert Schierer	....	first assistant camera
George Hesse	....	additional first assistant camera (uncredited)

Casting Department
Mercedes Kelso	....	casting associate (as Mercedes Danforth)
Joyce Kurtz	....	voice casting
Elizabeth Lang	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Shawn Barry	....	costume supervisor
Dena Matranga	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Jo Anne Finan	....	negative cutter
Sandra Grubb	....	first assistant editor
Julian Lopez Jr.	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Laura Ahlbeck	....	musician: piano
Dana Bratton	....	orchestrator: strings
Brent Brooks	....	music editor
Paul Bryan	....	musician: electric bass
Mason Daring	....	musician: keyboards
Randy Gerston	....	music supervisor
Dave Harris	....	musician: trombone
Greg Hopkins	....	musician: trumpet
Shane Koss	....	musician: keyboards
Duke Levine	....	musician: guitar
Billy Novick	....	musician: clarinet and saxophone
Billy Novick	....	orchestrator: swing orchestrations
Bill Reynolds	....	musician: drums
Amy Rosen	....	music coordinator
Stuart Schulman	....	musician: violin
Dave Shacter	....	music mixer
Dave Shacter	....	music recordist
Marshal Wood	....	musician: acoustic bass (as Marshall Wood)

Transportation Department
Brian N. Everett	....	transportation coordinator
Michael Locke	....	transportation captain
Hugo Ocana	....	driver
Manuel Ruiz	....	driver

Other crew
Jeanne Berney	....	unit publicist
Andrew L. Carey	....	assistant to producer
Brian Cinadr	....	trainer: Ms. Ricci
Robert Clotworthy	....	group voices
Linda O. Cook	....	group voices
Tim Dornberg	....	group voices
Kai Ephron	....	location manager
Malcolm Groome	....	group voices
Tina Hart	....	group voices
Bob Kay	....	key production assistant
Lontih Khatami	....	assistant: Mr. Roos
Joyce Kurtz	....	group voices
Sara Mandelson	....	craft service
Kevin McEveety	....	production accountant
Karen P. Morris	....	first assistant accountant (as Karen P. Kistner)
Rebecca Robertson	....	script supervisor
Andrew J. Sacks	....	production coordinator
Maridean Mansfield Shepard	....	stand-in (as Mari Shepard)
Matthew D. Smith	....	production assistant
M. Peter Soikkeli	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Rysher Entertainment (presents)

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Classics (1998) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (1999) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Focus Film AG (1999) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Movienet (1999) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (Argentina)
• Columbia TriStar Films
• Columbia TriStar (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (video)
• Sony Pictures Video

Other Companies

• Cattle Call Productions  extras casting
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes and dollies
• Daring Studios  music recording studio
• Hollywood Caterers  catering
• J.L. Fisher  camera cranes and dollies
• Joyce's Voices  voice casting
• Signet Soundelux Studios  sound editing
• Signet Soundelux Studios  sound re-recording

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language and sex related dialogue and sexuality.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:18+ (Ontario) | Singapore:R(A) (cut) | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Brazil:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:16 | Italy:VM18 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

Rysher Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: After Randy has been shot, and Dede and Matt take off, Lucia and Bill are in Lucia's hotel room and there is a pizza box, on the bed, behind Bill. It first appears open, but is closed a moment later.

Quotes:

Lucia: Matt, this is not your baby, OK? It's some other idiot's baby, probably with an eighth grade education and a trunk full of Waco pamphlets.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)

Soundtrack:

For Another Clown

Compelling

The Opposite Of Sex – 1998

The Opposite Of Sex stars two of my favourite actress' – Lisa Kudrow and Christina Ricci. Needless to say, they were my main motivations for seeing this film. Expecting a fairly average film you might say I was a little shocked when this turned out to be a well scripted, well acted, suitably gritty and compelling drama. The Opposite of Sex is narrated by the appropriately cynical lead character, Dede Truitt (Christina Ricci). The narration is highly amusing and witty and provides the audience with a release during tense and heavily themed situations. Dede Truitt basically walks into her half brothers life (Martin Donovan) and causes a stir among his sister in-law (Lisa Kudrow) by stealing his boyfriend who was originally thought to be gay and now decides he is bisexual. The whole film is constantly asking questions about Sex and what it has done to humanity. It works on two levels, one being that it has heavy themes and can be coarse at times. However Lisa Kudrow offers comic relief playing a straight square teacher who disapproves of everything and everyone in life especially sex. That is until she finds Sex on her doorstep. The Opposite of Sex is a brilliant film, when Christina Ricci was in her prime. It deserved much more praise than it got which is such as shame. 9/10