Entertainment
Raunchy Cameron Diaz Comedy Now On Netflix Reminds Us How Good We Used To Have It
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Cameron Diaz rode the romantic comedy train until the very end. She was the breakout star of There’s Something About Mary and then kept cranking out romantic comedies for over a decade, ending with 2014’s Sex Tape opposite her Bad Teacher co-star Jason Segel. Now on Netflix, the comedy isn’t the best she’s ever done, but it does stand out as ever since, Hollywood has become allergic to the thought of a mid-budget sex romp comedy. No one’s approached YouPorn for product placement ever since.
Cameron Diaz And Jason Segel Have No Idea How The Cloud Works
Sex Tape is a different type of romantic comedy. Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel play Annie and Jay, a married couple who still love each other, but the days of spontaneous sex marathons are behind them. That leads to the idea of filming a sex tape with the goal of hitting every single position from the Joy of Sex. It works, except Jay isn’t able to delete the video afterwards. Every iPad he’s given away for Christmas has synced to the Cloud and since he set them up, his videos are accessible from each and every one of them.
That kicks off a race against time to remove the video from all of the iPads, though they admit what happened to their friends, Robby and Tess (Rob Corddry and Elle Kemper), who decide to tag along since they have nothing better to do. Sex Tape rapidly devolves from there into doing cocaine with Annie’s boss (Rob Lowe) and breaking into the YouPorn headquarters complete with a cameo from Jack Black. Despite the premise, if you enjoyed Game Night, Sex Tape hits similar beats and jokes.
The Last Comedy Diaz Made Before Her Hiatus
The outlandish plot and the audience’s waning appetite for comedy didn’t hurt Sex Tape at the box office. A production budget of $40 million was tripled during its run, and that’s not including the DVD/Blu-Ray sales of over $7 million, both of which were pushed with an “Unrated” cut of the movie. Coming in fourth in its opening weekend meant losing to Planes: Fire and Rescue, which likely stung a little. Diaz and Segel’s second outing together has been a streaming staple ever since ensuring that they’ve had the last laugh.
Sex Tape was one of Cameron Diaz’s last projects before a nearly decade-long hiatus from Hollywood. From 2015 to 2022, Diaz focused on other projects, including her businesses, raising children, and writing a book. She came back alongside Jamie Foxx in the Netflix original Back in Action, followed by the AppleTV original Outcome with Keanu Reeves in 2026. In 2027, Diaz returns to her most successful role: Princess Fiona in Shrek 5.
Romantic Comedies Have Gone Extinct
Her bread and butter, the romantic comedy, no longer exists on the big screen. It used to be that a great comedy would permeate the culture and be quoted nonstop for months, if not years. Social media has shortened the lifespan of every movie. Movies aren’t quoted as often, they don’t stick around as long with all of their best scenes and moments being spoiled all over our feeds as soon as they hit theaters. Hollywood needs to redesign the romantic comedy and the more action focus of Sex Tape combined with Diaz’s nudity was the last gasp of relevancy for the genre.
Anyone who wants a throwback to Hollywood comedies can check out Sex Tape on Netflix. Maybe someday studios will take another crack at them.
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