Sharp Stick

When I read the synopsis on Sharp Stick, I thought this could be interesting, particularly in the hands of Lena Dunham. There are a few interesting elements here, like when the naive lead character first discovers sex and becomes initially obsessed with porn and makes it her mission to try all of the different sex positions/styles she discovers through porn herself, and tracks that journey via two large posters taped to her bedroom wall. As for the performances they're all solid and contribute something to the overall experience. Personally, the one exception might be Jennifer Jason Leigh. In general, I like her and think she's done some great work, but for me her selection struck me as JJL doing another typical JJL type of work and would have liked to see someone not so expected in this role. The film looked good but the story itself just didn't develop in a way that made me really care much about the characters, but was rather just observing them. The Dunham character and her husband in particular seemed random with no backstory or development. Despite some solid elements Sharp Stick just isn't so sharp.

There's a lot of Lena Dunham haters out there, but I'm actually not one of them, even though I think she's not as clever a writer as she seems to think she is. Nevertheless, I enjoyed TINY FURNITURE, I thought GIRLS was a worthwhile show, her direction of the INDUSTRY pilot was strong. All I'm doing here is establishing that I can be objective about Dunham's work...

Okay...so SHARP STICK. I did not enjoy it. It is a character study of a naive, but damaged young woman named Sarah Jo. She's a 26-year old virgin who had to have a hysterectomy in high school. (My wife endured a similar ordeal, although somewhat later in life, so that part of the story moved me.) But the way Sarah Jo is written came off as completely false to me. Her journey of sexual discovery would have been more interesting if we the audience could determine what exactly of value she learned about herself? She has a dysfunctional blended family that we learn almost nothing about. Why are they the way they are? Is that really Jennifer Jason Leigh and what is she doing here? The sex scenes aren't sexy, the scenes that should be comedic are flat or just plain baffling and at the end of the movie it felt like Dunham thought she had made some grand statement about female sexuality and personal discovery, but I was just confused and kind of grossed out. Skip this if it shows up on your Hulu home page.

I watched Sharp Stick as an in-flight movie so not at optimal picture quality, but it was still a reasonably enjoyable movie.

The main problem is the age and character of the main protagonist. As another reviewer commented, it seems as though she was written as a much younger character, but made older in the final script (possibly to avoid offending current paranoia/social mores?) It isn't really credible that any woman in her mid-twenties, living in LA, wouldn't have heard of basic intimate acts. Particularly with a very sassy, savvy sister.

There is a lot of intimate action in this, though in terms of nudity it's not explicit. I thought the first scenes were well done, but the central plot of adultery was somewhat brushed aside along with the husband and wife. Why she later does what she does - extreme behaviour/acts for anyone - didn't seem very realistic.

I did enjoy Scott Speedman as adult actor Vance. Luka Sabbat was also very good, although the final "happy ending" (not intended as a pun though I suppose it could be!) wasn't convincing, and was odd. I didn't feel the animated sequences really fit the tone of the rest of the movie.

But all in all it's interesting and certainly worth a view on a long haul flight.

An interesting movie with an interesting premise.it has its moments, but not very many.

One thing about this movie gets me. How can a 27 year old be this niece or stupid. I get the shes a Virgin and doesn't know a lot about sex. But this girl is very stupid about everything. People have to be blunt with her and explain things. They just make her seem dumb.

This is a movie just to watch and not get caught up in it. If you're looking for nudity or a sexy movie, this is not it. I wouldn't recommend this movie for a popcorn flick. Go watch something else. If you desire clothes on sex, this is the movie for you.

As "Sharp Stick" (2022 release; 86 min) opens, we are introduced to Treina and Sarah Jo, sisters in their 20s living at home with mom. Sarah Jo is 26 and still a virgin. She works as a nanny/housekeeper of sorts and one day she makes a move onto Josh, her employer and a married father...

Couple of comments: this is the latest project from writer-producer-director Lena Dunham, who for good measure also stars (as Josh's wife). Even though the movie's premise seems a little unlikely, given the standard of excellence typically exhibited in Dunham's projects, I decided to give this a try. Alas, I shouldn't have. I don't know exactly what happened here, but something went very wrong. Bottom line is that I never bought into any of the characters, least of all Sarah Jo as the 26 yo virgin. And the storyline doesn't feel credible or likely for most of this either. Despite some great acting talent attached to this (including Kristine Froseth. Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Jon Bernthal, just to name those, this movie just didn't do anything for me, sorry...

"Sharp Stick" bypassed US theaters altogether and went straight to VOD upon its release this past summer. It recently started streaming on Hulu, where I caught it. I can't really recommend this to anyone in good conscience. Of course don't take my word for it, so if you are a fan of Dunham's prior output, I'd suggest you check this out (with lowered expectations), and draw your own conclusion.