A group of bohemian intellectuals struggle to have an intelligent discussion of perhaps the world's most emotional subject in this comedy-drama from director
Alan Rudolph. Edgar (
Dermot Mulroney) is an artist living in Paris during the 1920s who believes that sex is a subject of vital importance, but almost no one discusses it with the gravity it deserves. With this in mind, Edgar gathers together a panel of fellow creative types at the home of a wealthy tycoon (
Nick Nolte) and his oddly accented spouse (
Tuesday Weld) for an evening in which they will discuss their erotic lives without self-serving wit or exaggeration. Joining Edgar for this experiment is an artist from Germany (
Til Schweiger), an arrogant film director (
Jeremy Davies), a self-obsessed painter (
Alan Cumming) whose fey personality may cross the boundaries of Edgar's prohibition of homosexuality as a topic of conversation, and a student from England (
Terrence Dashon Howard) who has attracted the eye of a lovely French girl (
Julie Delpy) with whom Edgar has fallen in love. Certain that a number of profound thoughts will be shared with the group, Edgar hires a pair of stenographers to record the proceedings, but the presence of the two young and beautiful secretaries -- innocent Alice (
Neve Campbell) and provocative Zoe (
Robin Tunney) -- has an unexpectedly strong effect on the group.
Investigating Sex had its U.S. premiere as the closing night attraction of
the 2001 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide