directed by steven soderbergh . cast : andie macdowell , james spader , peter gallagher , laura san giacomo . 1989 - 99 minutes . rated r ( for profanity and sexual situations ) . reviewed october 28 , 1998 . steve soderbergh's " sex , lies , and videotape , " which won the grand prize at the cannes film festival in 1989 , arguably began the resurgence of independent films . made on a shoestring budget of $1 . 2 million , with then relatively unknown actors , it is a provocative , thoroughly original drama . the film mostly focuses on the four central characters , all in their late 20's-early 30's . ann ( andie macdowell ) , an unfulfilled housewife , is married to john ( peter gallagher ) , an insensitive lawyer , who , unbeknownst to her , is having an affair with her younger sister , cynthia ( laura san giacomo ) . complicating matters even worse is graham ( james spader , who won best actor at cannes ) , john's old college buddy , who comes to stay at their house . ann is absolutely won over by him , even though she clearly has stated that she has very little interest in sex . that is the set-up for the last hour of the picture , and since the film is entitled , " sex , lies , and videotape , " it is best to keep the rest of the story developments at bay so that they will come as a genuine surprise . director steven soderbergh has proven to be a wildly offbeat filmmaker , ranging from the independent , to the mainstream ( 1998's " out of sight " ) , to the downright kafkaesque ( 1997's " schizopolis " ) . he is the type of director who obviously takes a lot of chances , and believes in the work that he does , and , " sex , lies , and videotape , " is probably his most confident , and maybe even best , to date . the performances are superb from all four leads , but macdowell stands out in what is probably the main character . she is always a very winning actress , but this is probably her most three-dimensional role that she has had ( with a close second being altman's 1993 mosaic , " short cuts " ) . the other parts are perfectly cast as well , from spader's ominous graham , to gallagher's self-involved john , to giacomo's outspoken cynthia . the final act of the film , especially , comes right out of left field , and turns out to be both shocking and oddly touching , and it would be criminal to give away the film's secrets . suffice to say that , through one powerful sequence , ann is able to somewhat come out of her shell , and john learns a valuable lesson about honesty , as well as deception . the film has one fault , however . the characters are almost all emotionally cold and isolated from one another , and often unlikable . if there had been a few extra scenes with gallagher , it probably would have helped , since his relationship with macdowell isn't quite as explored as i would have liked . " sex , lies , and videotape , " although minorly flawed , is still easily a brave and adult motion picture that is far more mature and honest about its subject matter than the usual film . soderbergh clearly knew what he was doing while he was making it , and the final product certainly proves this . - copyright 1999 by dustin putman < <a href= " http : //members . aol . com/filmfan16/index . html " >dustin putman's film haven</a> > 
