I Am a Sex Addict

Caveh Zahedi's faux documentary I Am a Sex Addict wins big points for audacious adventurousness and the filmmaker's willingness to let himself look like a fool, but loses most of them again for failing to reach beyond its one-joke premise. Zahedi spills the beans about ex-girlfriends and the one true love who (of course) got away, while also detailing how sexual insecurities, childhood hang-ups, and feminist philosophies somehow led him to fantasize about prostitutes and then actually become a john, before he ultimately overcame his sex addiction to reach a place of peace and monogamy. The film is a very personal look—almost a kind of video diary—at how madly in love men are with their own penises, but while Zahedi is smart and self-aware enough to realize how ridiculous this aspect of human maleness is, he's also most definitely a human male and hence at least half convinced that we all find his penis as fascinating as he does. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include “Inside Look: Shooting I Am a Sex Addict” on “The Hotel Scene,” “The Ecstasy Scene,” and “The Mushroom Scene,” (33 min. total), and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for an uneven film.] (M. Johanson)