Better Than Sex

FILM INFORMATION

List of Cast and Credits

Director: Jonathan Teplitzky
Scriptwriter: Jonathan Teplitzky
Cinematographer: Garry Phillips
Producer: Frank Cox & Bruna Papandrea
Production Company: BetterThan Pty Ltd
Music: David Hirshfelder

Josh: David Wenham
Cin: Susie Porter
Sam: Catherine McClements
Taxi driver: Kris McQuade

Run time: 85 or 90 minutes depending on source

Release Dates

Australian Release: November 9th 2000
Australian video release: March 28th 2001
New Zealand Release: April 26th 2001
US Release: October 5th 2001

Box Office Figures

In 2000 when Better Than Sex was released Australian films made up 8% of the total Australian box office. Better Than Sex was one of 8 Australian films to earn over $1 million in 2000. In its first week from the 9th to the 12th November it was screened in 66 screens and made $4,551. By its last week in cinemas, the week ending on the 17th December it had made $1,088,732.[1]

Awards

AFI nominations for: Best Film
Best Achievement in Direction
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actress
Best Actor
Best Achievement in Production Design
Best Original Screenplay
Best Original Music Score
Won Best Film Score at APRA Music Awards 2000 and Australian Guild of Screen Composers Awards in Dec 2000

Bibliographical details of interviews with filmmakers

One of the things I found most difficult in researching this film was finding interviews by the filmmakers. I found out that Margaret Pomeranz had interviewed Jonathan Teplitzky in a public forum a few days before the AFI awards in 2000 but there were no details available. I also found an interview, or quotes at least by the stars, Susie Porter and David Wenham and the director on the Urban Cinefile site. Teplitzky commented on wanting to make a different kind of romantic comedy and it being based on his own personal experiences. Susie Porter talked about laughing aloud at the script and being impressed with Teplitzky's comic style. Wenham's quote talked about the unconventionality of the script and working with Porter. I also found quotes by the stars and a director's statement on the Better Than Sex website. Peter Thompson also incorporated quotes by Teplitzky in his review of the film. Unfortunately this was all I could find in terms of interviews or quotes by the filmmakers so it doesn't make much of a bibliographical account. With the lack of Australian film sites and the Hollywood bias on the American sites there were few interviews about a little Australian film from 2000 available.

Bibliographical details of reviews in newspapers, essays in journals, discussions in books

Better Than Sex was reviewed in newspapers across Australia before and at the time of its release in November 2000. David Stratton reviewed it as early as July 15th 2000 in the Weekend Australian. Most reviews in Australian newspapers occurred around November, however unlike the American website Rotten Tomatoes there is no Australian website that contains these reviews and they are also not available from the newspapers' websites. Short excerpts are available on the Better Than Sex official site but these are biased for obvious reasons.
It was also reviewed in newspapers in almost all states across North America during September and October when it was released.
The Dallas Morning News 11th Sept 2001
New York Post 26th Oct 2001
LA Times 26th Oct 2001
Seattle Times 16th Nov 2001
It was reviewed by the BBC on the 5th April 2001 subsequent to its release in the UK. The New Zealand Herald reviewed it on the 28th April 2001 a few days after its release there. There are also many reviews by web journals and magazines from various countries such as the Box Office Magazine in English, Cinenganos in Spanish and www.ifrance.com in French.[2] The ÎFilm Written Magazine' wrote an article about the movie on April 3rd 2001 and the journal ÎSenses of Cinema' in October 2000
Cinema Papers contained a review and a profile of David Wenham in their October/November 2000 edition and Encore ran a Îmaking of' piece on the film in Volume 18 the February 2000 edition.

Better Than Sex's online presence

You will notice by the bibliographical details of reviews in newspapers that there are limited Australian sites about Australian movies such as Better Than Sex. The website that provided most of the information in this area was the Rotten Tomatoes website which has a decidedly US bias providing reviews from newspapers in almost all American states but only one review from one Australian newspaper despite this being an Australian film.

Better Than Sex featured fairly strongly in the web literature. When searched for there was a mention or a review on almost all the film sites I searched. However, the vast majority of these sites are American and have a strong Hollywood bias. Information on this movie could be found quite easily on the web but the information was often limited to a review and not much more. The most trouble I had with researching the film was finding interviews with the filmmakers. If I had wanted an interview with the makers of a recent film, a Hollywood film or an Australian movie, which was a huge box office success in America such as Priscilla, then I would have been okay but there is a lack of information like this for the smaller Australian film. The only place I did find the required information was on the Better Than Sex website and on ninemsn's entertainment site. Not even the largest Australian film website, Urban Cinefile, although it was the only site I could find with detailed information about the box office figures of Better Than Sex, contained interviews about the film.

Collecting Information

To collect information about Better Than Sex I primarily used the internet. The film was only released in 2000 and most of the film texts and books were written before then. I also searched journals as, like the internet, they are updated more frequently and therefore have more recent information than texts and books in libraries. I researched the Murdoch Library and found information in the film journals available there, such as Cinema Papers and Encore but many of the others did not have editions available up to the year 2000.
I have already talked about collecting information from the internet in the previous section about the films online presence. I started by searching the links from the Murdoch H231 Australian Cinema site. I also searched the links from the Australian Film Institute and Australian Film Commission sites. The most information I collected was from the Urban Cinefile site, Australia's main film website, and the Rotten Tomatoes site which contains many reviews from worldwide of many films.

CRITICAL REVIEW

Better Than Sex is about two main characters, Cin and Josh, who meet at a party and have a one-night stand with no strings attached as Josh is due to fly back to London in three days. The one-night stand, however, turns into two nights as they begin to get emotionally attached to each other.
Better Than Sex is refreshing in the way it deals with women's sexuality. Cin is confident in bed and there is no moralistic tinge to her sexual activities. At one point Josh and Cin even discuss the hypocritical attitude of some people toward sexually experienced women. The cinematic style of direct comments by Cin and Josh to the camera and voice-overs by them during some scenes works really well to add depth to the characters. Like a lot of reviewers, though, I did not like the comments by friends of the pair, Greek chorus style and felt it was unnecessary.
As I have just stated, the majority of critics were not in favour of the Greek chorus of friends throughout the film, however the overall uptake of the film has been quite varied. Australian reviewer Peter Thompson wrote at the time of release that Better Than Sex had opened to 'glowing reviews'[3] and in the case of Australia many critics did praise the film for its freshness, its comedy and especially for the two main stars, Susie Porter and David Wenham. Margaret Pomeranz called it 'insightful and funny'[4] and praised Teplitzky's understanding of women's sexuality. Both Pomeranz and a number of other critics including Andrew Urban commented on the excellent cinematography of Garry Phillips, which turns potentially pornographic sex scenes into inoffensive, intimate sex. In general Australian critics were very impressed with the main actors performances and the way sex and relationships were treated in the film.
However, the critical uptake upon its release in the US was quite different. Although there were some American critics who praised the film the majority of reviewers commented on the lack of narrative and interest, the 'paper-thin script'[5] and the unnecessary Greek chorus. The areas that most American critics saw as the only redeeming qualities were the two stars and the cinematography during the sex scenes.
Peter Thompson commented in his review that Australians are far more relaxed when it comes to sex, sighting the fact that Sex and the City is shown on network television here but not in its home country. David Pearce also talked about the difference between Better Than Sex and American films noting that in Hollywood sex generally always comes after love. These could be among the reasons why US critics were less receptive to the film than Australian critics. Nevertheless it was almost unanimously agreed that the two stars and the cinematography were of high standard. Contention was mainly over the quality of the script and whether the film was interesting or not which is really a personal choice.
Better Than Sex is director, Jonathan Teplitzky's feature film debut. Before this Teplitzky was a director mainly of music videos and television commercials. Phillip Wuntch of the Dallas Morning News uses Teplitzky's background to criticize the film, saying it runs ' just like a TV ad'[6] and that its length highlighted Teplitzky's lack of experience in feature films. Jake Wilson claims that because of Teplitzky's past directorial experience he 'avoids the kind of theatrical tension we might expect in a movie set in and around a single apartment'[7] He comments on the style Teplitzky uses of cutting away from the drama to a visual joke ' as if he were constantly worrying that viewers might get bored with just watching two people alone in a room'.[8]
Wilson has written this as a criticism but really for the same reasons that Wilson has stated Teplitzky's experience works to improve the film. The plot is very simple but what could have potentially been a boring film set in an apartment with the same two characters for the duration does not become tedious thanks to Teplitzky's style. The comic aspects such as visual jokes and voice-overs and the charm of the characters, which is enhanced by their direct comments to the camera, turn the simple situation of two people in an apartment into an entertaining film.
Susie Porter and David Wenham are perfect in the parts they play. None of the many reviews I have read have criticized the two main stars to any degree. In contrary, the majority of critics have praised them both immensely. They make their characters real and credible and give them a charm that really makes the film. Porter, possibly because of her experience playing roles in films such as Feeling Sexy, lacks any embarrassment and seems completely comfortable talking about oral sex and such topics and spending most of the film half naked. Both David Wenham and Susie Porter are very experienced young actors and this shows in the quality of their performances in Better Than Sex.
Better Than Sex was produced in a 'fast, four week shoot on a miniscule budget'[9] It was a very low budget film of just over one million dollars. Both the director, Teplitzky, and the producer, Frank Cox, invested their own money into the project as well as securing the largest investment they could from the NSW Film & Television Office. Props and materials were bought at auction and restored to save money and it was shot in an old warehouse on 35mm.[10] The story was based on Teplitzky's personal experience and it was a project he had long wanted to make. It was only when Robert Connolly introduced him to producer Bruna Papandrea that the ball began rolling. Teplitzky secured Susie Porter early on in the script writing stage and this led to another talented actor, David Wenham agreeing to join.
Due to the connections of the producer, Frank Cox who had done a lot of work with Jacques Erie Strauss, part of the France Television Distribution group he made them a short pitch and Better Than Sex gained the commitment of France Television Films and President Films. This then led to it being sold to many countries around the world including the US, UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, India, Iceland and Israel.[11]
Better Than Sex was released in Australia on the 9th of November and stayed in cinemas until the 17th December earning over one million dollars at the box office. It was released in other countries such as US, New Zealand and the UK in 2001. Information on the box office takings in these countries is not available on the internet.
The reviews, box office and general experience of the film, Better Than Sex, tells us a lot about the position of Australian films in general. Better Than Sex starred two of Australia's most talented young actors and yet it is considered to have done extremely well at the box office by making over a million dollars. On the other hand an Australian film starring an Australian actor who has made it big in America such as Nicole Kidman would probably make more than this in the first week. Regardless of the quality of the actors the Australian public seems to need at least one actor in the film who has been validated by Hollywood.
In the year Better Than Sex was released, 2000 it was part of the Australian films which counted for 8% of the total Australian box office and one of the 8 Australian films which made over one million dollars.[12] Compared with previous years this indicates that Australian films are gradually making more money and increasing their role in our box office. Indeed, the amount of money made by Australian films in 2000 was a record at the time. Better Than Sex also shows that Australian films are gaining more prominence overseas. The number of countries it was sold to and the fact that it was reviewed by almost all North American newspapers and also in countries such as Spain and France shows that Australian films are being seen by more people, in more countries around the world than in previous times.
However, Better Than Sex also reveals the position of Australian film by the fact that it was shown in so many film festivals. Better Than Sex was shown at the Cork, London, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals. In 2000 nine Australian films appeared at the Toronto Film Festival. This highlights the Australian cinemas position in the world as a festival cinema. The lack of enthusiasm about the film from American reviewers could be a result of Teplitzky's determination not to make a quirky romantic comedy. Without the quirkiness that America loves about Australian films it was seen by most American critics as uninteresting. Many Australian critics, however, saw it as intelligent, insightful and fresh.
As a medium sized English language cinema Australia must compete with the dominant cinema, Hollywood. As McFarlane and Mayer state the most successful films in doing this have been those films that rework American genres. ' [It is] arguable that the most commercially successful films of the Australian film revival· have reworked American genres.'[13] Better Than Sex has also tried to do this. Teplitzky himself acknowledges that he wanted to avoid making a simple generic romatic comedy. ' I didn't want it to be a standard romantic comedy. [I] wanted to avoid the sentimentality which undoes so many of those.'[14] Instead he made a film which is indeed a comedy about love and sex but that does not fit into the mould of Hollywood romantic comedies. This was stated perfectly by David Pearce who said that 'Hollywood concentrates on love at all costs with sex often following. Better Than Sex goes the opposite way.'[15]
Australian national cinema, like all national cinemas in Hollywood is seen as a festival cinema. To Americans, Australian cinema is a ''specialized cinema', an art house cinema supported by festivals, critics and filmgoers who want something different·but not too different.'[16] Better Than Sex is no exception to this rule. It was screened in many film festivals as previously mentioned and was sold to many countries after its screening at Cannes.
Due to it being a product of Australian cinema, which is considered quirky and festival in the US, the filmmakers have deliberately tried to go against that stereotype. Both Teplitzky and the producer, Papandrea have been quoted as saying that the film is not a quirky Australian comedy. Papandrea says 'Its sophisticated, not quirky'[17]. However with Australian cinema's position as a medium sized English language cinema it is still seen as a quirky, festival film by America.

REFERENCES

http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/News_Bums_on_seats_news.asp

http://www.rottentomatoes.com

http://www.afc.gov.au

Papandrea, B. http://www.urbancinefile.com.au 9/11/2000

Teplitzky, J. http://www.urbancinefile.com.au 9/11/2000

Eagan, D. ÎFilm Journal International', 2001, link from http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Wuntch, Phillip. The Dallas Morning News, published 11th Nov 2001 link from
http://www.rottentomatoes.com

Thompson, P. Peter Thompson's Film Review, http://www.ninemsn.com , published Nov 12 2000,

Pomeranz, M. http://www.sbs.com.au/movieshow

Wilson, J. http://www.sensesofcinema.com , Oct 2000

Pearce, D. The Australian Movie Guide, http://www.movieguide.com.au 10th Nov 2000

Boland, M ÎDiver Dan Goes Down', in Cinema Papers, No. 135 Oct/Nov 2000 p30

Ellis, B. ÎGetting Your Film Up: Better Than Sex', in Encore Vol. 18, Issue 1 Feb 2000 pp 18-19

McFarlane,B. and Mayer, G. New Australian Cinema: Sources and Parallels in American and British Film (1992, Cambridge Uni Press), 4

O'Regan, Tom. Australian National Cinema, (1996, Routledge, London), 61

[1] Box Office information taken from the Urban Cinefile site. http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/News_Bums_on_seats_news.asp
[2] Newspaper review information taken from the Rotten Tomatoes website. http://www.rottentomatoes.com
[3] Peter Thompson's Film Review, http://www.ninemsn.com , published Nov 12 2000,
[4] Margaret Pomeranz, http://www.sbs.com.au/movieshow
[5] Daniel Eagan, 'Film Journal International', 2001, link from http://www.rottentomatoes.com
[6] Wuntch, Phillip. The Dallas Morning News, published 11th Nov 2001 link from http://www.rottentomatoes.com
[7] Jake Wilson. http://www.sensesofcinema.com , Oct 2000
[8] ibid
[9] Michaela Boland, 'Diver Dan Goes Down', in Cinema Papers, No. 135 Oct/Nov 2000 p31
[10] Bob Ellis, 'Getting Your Film Up: Better Than Sex', in Encore Vol. 18, Issue 1 Feb 2000 pp 18-19
[11] http://www.urbancinefile.com.au 8/6/2000
[12] http://www.afc.gov.au
[13] Brian McFarlane and Geoff Mayer, New Australian Cinema: Sources and Parallels in American and British Film (1992, Cambridge Uni Press), 4
[14] Jonathan Teplitzky, http://www.urbancinefile.com.au 9/11/2000
[15] David Pearce, The Australian Movie Guide, http://www.movieguide.com.au 10th Nov 2000
[16] Tom O'Regan, Australian National Cinema, (1996, Routledge, London), 61
[17] Bruna Papandrea, http://www.urbancinefile.com.au 9/11/2000