The Covid Killer (2021)

The Covid Killer (2021). The Covid Killer: Directed by Jeff Knite. With Jeff Knite, Paugh Shadow, Johnny Careccia, Mike Benz. A serial killer the media has dubbed “The Covid Killer” is terrorizing the citizens of New York during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Cameron Diaz is someone that must be so, SO depressing for many middle-aged women. Bursting onto the screen like a shimmering vision of hotness in u0026quot;The Masku0026quot; when only 21 she then appeared as a highly believable high-school student 4 years later in u0026quot;Thereu0026#39;s Something about Maryu0026quot;. Now SIXTEEN years after that in u0026quot;Sex Tapeu0026quot; the 42-year old Diaz again plays – in a flashback scene – her character Annie as a semi-naked college student – still with a gravity-defying body that seems to refuse to age. There IS something about Diaz! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSex Tape taps into the general truism that u0026quot;nobody understand The Cloudu0026quot; with a storyline that is, I believe, quite novel. Married couple Annie and Jay (Diaz and Jason Segel), generally battered by life and parenthood, try to revive their flagging sex-life by making a home-made porn movie on Jayu0026#39;s new iPad. This private adventure in movie-making is meant to be deleted immediately afterwards: easy come, easy trash. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately this is where the Cloud steps in, since the new iPad synchronises all new music and videos to storage in the Cloud using an app delightfully called u0026#39;Frankensynchu0026#39;. However it then simultaneously also synchs the material down to all Jayu0026#39;s previously owned iPads. For reasons of utter geekdom, and showing far too much of the excess of American consumerism, Jay gets each and every new model of iPad that comes out which means there are a significant number of old models that have been gifted to friends, family and business associates of the couple.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis modern and topical set-up leads to scenes of classic farce as Annie and Jay desperately try to retrieve all copies of the video before it can destroy their reputation and particularly the hopes of selling Annieu0026#39;s squeaky-clean u0026#39;motherhoodu0026#39; blog to the equally squeaky-clean u0026#39;Piper Brothersu0026#39; corporation, headed by Hank Rosenbaum (Rob Lowe).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film should be commended for the premise of its novel story by Kate Angelo. However, in terms of the screenplay and the execution by director Jake Kasdan (u0026quot;Bad Teacheru0026quot;), the movie is extremely lumpy and uneven.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTrue that there are some laugh-out loud moments in the film. One in particular with an Alsatian and iPhoneu0026#39;s u0026#39;Siriu0026#39; – whilst strongly plagiarising similar scenes in u0026quot;Something about Maryu0026quot; and u0026quot;Father of the Brideu0026quot; – is still a crackingly funny sequence. However other parts of the film are weighed down with tediously lengthy dialogue between Annie and Jay about the meaning of love and sex in their relationship and these just seems to kill the momentum of both the film and the comedy. The scene outside Rosenbaumu0026#39;s house is a case in point. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn addition, the character U-turn by Harrison Holzeru0026#39;s Howard and the whole scene at the internet IT shop – with Jack Black, the friendly face of porn – is lame and nonsensical.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDiaz, having fully demonstrated her comedic talents throughout her career, is great in this film and Segel has his moments, although is perhaps a bit of an acquired taste. Rob Corddry (u0026quot;Hot Tub Time Machineu0026quot;) and Ellie Kemper (u0026quot;The (US) Officeu0026quot;) are also very funny as the best friends brought into the secret and suitably spicing up their own sex life as a result.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut once again (as in u0026quot;Behind the Candelabrau0026quot;) it is Rob Lowe who steals the show as the outrageously ego-centric and manic Rosenbaum. The paintings around his house depicting himself inserted into classic Disney scenes are hilarious: Iu0026#39;d pay to see a sequel of u0026quot;Meet the Rosenbaumsu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAs you might guess from the title, the film is very rude with a good deal of nudity, sex and bad language. But more disturbing to me was the casual encouragement to partake in hard drugs (cocaine in this case), depicted as both u0026#39;coolu0026#39; and something that the lead character Annie would u0026quot;like to try againu0026quot;. I have never taken drugs, and never intend to, which probably puts me in a minority of the population these days! But unless films are based around drug use/taking and display the negative and destructive sides of their use, my firm view is that they should NOT appear in films in such a trivialising manner. Drugs destoy lives. The fact that this film only has a (UK) certification of u0026#39;15u0026#39; I find staggering: censors… just say u0026quot;nou0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn summary: great concept, with great potential, but poorly executed.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e(If you enjoyed this review, please check out my other reviews on bob-the-movie-man.com, and sign up to u0026quot;Follow the Fadu0026quot;. Thanks!).”