They All Give Love a Bad Name in ‘Whipped’

Peter M. Cohen’s “Whipped” is way too bleak to be funny, even as a contemporary satire of the battle of the sexes. Though it’s been made and promoted as a mainstream comedy, it comes off more stark than an arty independent production shot with a hand-held camera. It’s hard to tell whether Cohen, in his feature debut, meant to be quite so nihilistic.

Cohen gathers three guys, friends from college and living in Manhattan, who meet every Sunday for brunch at a diner to go over the week’s sexual triumphs. Brad (Brian Van Holt) is a handsome, cocky stockbroker; Zeke (Zorie Barber) is a nerdy fellow with glasses who thinks he’s every bit as much God’s gift to women as Brad; and Jonathan (Jonathan Abrahams) is a self-proclaimed sensitive type who’s a little insecure in his sexuality.

Apparently Jonathan hangs with Brad and Zeke to shore up his sense of masculinity and pretty much goes along with his pals, who view women entirely in terms of sexual conquest.

Their talk could scarcely be more crass, reveling in the grosser aspects of sex and bodily functions. They are often joined by their friend Eric (Judah Domke), married for two years and miserable about it. These guys are full of themselves, and the way they hit on women is repellent yet, alarmingly enough, apparently often effective.

All of a sudden things start changing. In one week Brad, Zeke and Jonathan all meet a woman who sweeps them off their feet, who listens to them and makes them feel they’re the greatest, in or out of the sack. Alas, they’ve all met the same woman, Mia (Amanda Peet). It’s pretty clear early on that she’s setting them up, getting them to fall for her hard in order to teach them a lesson--that perhaps through the pain of love lost they’ll get wise to themselves and start growing up.

Cohen, however, goes on to make the point that when it comes to sex, women are just as coarse as men in their vulgarity, cruelty and shallowness. We learn that Mia gets pleasure from deflating a bunch of jerks who should be beneath her attention.

What does this leave us with? A screenful of thoroughly obnoxious individuals--played quite persuasively, at that--who are preoccupied with sexual gratification on its most selfish level or as a satisfying form of revenge.

Of course, the world is full of people who seem to have no more to them than Mia or her dupes. While most movies, even quite serious ones, traditionally act as a form of escape from everyday life, “Whipped” leaves you with the feeling of having at last escaped a numbing experience, trapped in the company of people too pathetic to be amusing.

It also leaves you with the feeling that human boorishness is so abundantly self-evident you scarcely need to spend 83 minutes watching it on the screen.

* MPAA rating: R, for strong sexual content and language. Times guidelines: There’s really no sex, but the nonstop talk about sex, bodily functions and various personal habits is graphic and blunt in the extreme.

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‘Whipped’

Amanda Peet: Mia

Brian Van Holt: Brad

Jonathan Abrahams: Jonathan

Zorie Barber: Zeke

Judah Domke: Eric

A Destination Films presentation in association with Hi-Rez Films. Writer-producer-director Peter M. Cohen. Executive producers Anthony Armetts, Taylor MacCrae, Barry London, Brent Baum, Brad Jenkel. Cinematographer Peter B. Kowalski. Editor Tom McArdle. Music Michael Montes. Costumes Karen Kozlowski. Production designer Katherine M. Szilagy. Art director Svetlana Rabey. Set decorator Colette Miller. Running time: 1 hour, 23 minutes.

In general release.