K-SCORE: 39
Director: Shawn Piller
Writer: Scott Lew
Starring: Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Trachtenberg, Seth Green, William Baldwin, Harold Perrineau
Spoiler Level: Minor
I watched this career intersection of Seth Green, Michelle Trachtenberg, Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica notoriety, Harold Perrineau aka Michael, the worst character on Lost, and William Baldwin while lying in bed, wondering why it was a film at all. Here’s something I don’t say that often: this movie would have been better as a stage play. Almost nothing would be better as a stage play. Stage plays are trash. Take it from someone who spent a decade of his young life immersed in the world of theater: theater is dead and theater people are responsible for digging the grave and covering themselves in the dirt.
So the fact that Sexy Evil Genius is more theatrical than filmic is not a strength. I guess it’s a way to save money if it had a small budget. There is some decent character work here, but all of the writing is overly backstory focused and consequently expositional to a high degree. The plot goes way off the wall at the end just in a desperate attempt to keep you guessing who is really the antagonist of the bunch. The most unrealistic idea explored in the film, however, is that all of these people would want to date Starbuck in the first place.