Michael Winterbottom noticed that there were works in classic literature that were extremely erotic and graphic. Yet, these books are still considered literature as opposed to porn. So Winterbottom makes a movie using unsimulated sex (that’s fancy words for the folks really are doing it).

It’s about an English guy who studies glaciers who meets an American girl at a rock concert. They have sex. They go to more concerts and have more sex. That’s pretty much the entire plot.

Winterbottom intentionally wanted to tell a story of a relationship solely through the partners sexual acts. And what we have is beautiful filmed erotica. Some critics have called it soft core porn. It doesn’t really feel like porn but it doesn’t feel like a good movie either.

It did get me to thinking. Winterbottom’s premise was to show a relationship solely through sex. That premise lends itself to the question: What exactly does sex reveal about a person? Most people would say that you learn things by having sex with someone that you wouldn’t learn any other way. Many religions say it is powerful and should only be done within the confines of marriage.

I really wanted to see the concert footage. The Dandy Warhols are one of my favorite bands. Alas, the concert footage in the trailer is much better than the movie. The movie footage feels like Winterbottom bought some bootlegs.

But like a relationship where you find that great chemistry is not enough to sustain it for the long term, this movie is not enough to well…. keep to me interested. I didn’t know enough about the characters to care if they broke up or not.