The Swing of Things (2020)

(On Cable TV, February 2021) American sex comedies tend to be a hit-or-miss kind of genre, with far many more of them falling toward the “miss” end of the spectrum: Part of it is the very weird relationship that American society has with sexuality, torn between basic desire and puritan embarrassment. This often leads to sex comedies using humiliation as a primary comic device, just to make sure that no one enjoys themselves too much. When coupled with the ludicrous nature of the MPAA ratings system when it comes to sexuality, which either classifies things as pornographic or not, there’s a wide chasm between what films may want to talk about and what can be seen on-screen. Then there’s the third factor, which is terminal laziness whenever salacious topics are brought up: American sex comedies think it’s enough to use coarse language, bare skin and call it a day — after all, aren’t viewers going to be satisfied with just that? I’ll stop the analytical enumeration right here before it turns into a Ted Talk, but suffice to say that The Swing of Things ends up at the intersection of all three issues, with the laziness factor being the dominant reason for the film’s overall muted impact. The premise is contrived but simple enough, as two families heading south for a destination wedding somehow end up as a swinger’s resort to celebrate the nuptials. Things then predictably fall apart, as the wedding couple is tested by temptations. Interestingly enough, the conclusion is quite a bit gentler than you’d expect, as the characters learn to live with their desires. (Much of the comedy also goes under the “old people having sex” trope, which is another thing that American society is weirded out about — but I promised that the Ted Talk was over, right?)  Still, The Swing of Thing is more interesting to analyze than to watch. Lazy bottom-basement filmmaking makes even the splendid Jamaican backdrops feel boring, and there’s never a spark of comic competence in the way director Matt Shapira handles the underwhelming script. Flat staging and actors left to their own devices can’t really help the result. While the script could have ben retooled to greater impact, this would have meant getting away from its juvenile attitude and fondness for humiliation. Nudity can’t save the film, and only highlights the need for creating the kind of acceptable social middle ground between comedy and pornography in which there can be honest (even comic) discussion about sexuality, desire, jealousy and the notion of infidelity. But really — I’m lending The Swing of Things far too much gravitas in associating it with those issues. It’s really just a silly sex comedy, and it’s probably best appreciated (or not) as such.