Jexi 2019

     Phil lives in San Francisco and he has an addiction to his i-phone.  His number of friends is 0, is job is writing pop culture top 10 lists and his love life is also 0.  Phil is forced to upgrade his phone when it is damaged beyond repair.  The latest model comes with an app named Jexi.  The app is female and she is an A.I. life coach, virtual assistant and cheerleader.  Jexi becomes enamored with Phil and she wants him all to herself??  This is a BIG problem and it could limit his chances for success in life??

     This is a raunchy comedy with a phone turning Phil’s life upside down.  There is nonstop use of extremely strong language and lots of sexual innuendo.  References to pornography, virginity, sexting and more.  Adults drink and use marijuana.  On the plus side, this film does give insight on too much reliance on technology.  Placing importance on friendships and relationships should be before devices.  There are some funny moments and especially those with Wanda Sykes as an employee at the Apple Store.  This movie could have gone another direction with the voice of Jexi changed to a sweet voice and giving out good advice to a socially challenged person instead???  Possibly, this change could have boosted the box office money too?  3* (This movie is OK)

94 min, Comedy directed and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore with Adam Devine, Alexandra Shipp, Rose Bryne, Ron Funches, Charlyne Yi, Michael Pena, Wanda Sykes, Kid Cudi, Justin Hartley, Gavin Root, Blake Grunder, Richard Harder, Ray Reinhardt, Diana Jackson, Aaron Wilton. 

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10 with 13,508 views, Rotten Tomatoes 14% with 29 critics 71%with 1,226 ratings, Roger Ebert 2 1/2* Monica Castillo, indiewire.com 1 1/2* out of 5* David Ehrlich, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 16+, 3* positive 2* role models, 2* violence, 4* sex, 5* language, 3* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Metacritic 39 out of 100 with 11 critics (2 positive 3 mixed 6 negative) 3.3 out of 10 with 33 ratings (7 positive 6 mixed 20 negative), Letterboxd 2.2* out of 5* with 4,342 ratings.

Special Note:  Access to filming actions was hampered by an unusually heavy rainy seas in San Fransisco and the government shutdown in early 2019.  The shutdown resulted in the lack of access to federally owned property in the city.  This included Crissy Field in the Presidio.  Many last minute rewrites and location changes were required.  All of the lines for Jexi were recorded after filming and Adam Devine had an earpiece to hear her lines read to him by actress/voice over artist Laurie Burke.  Sometimes the earpiece would malfunction, Adam would take the earbud out and do the scene without hearing anyone talking??  This is the second romantic comedy with Adam Devine that came out in 2019.  The first was Isn’t It Romantic.  Some stock footage of San Francisco is used, the morning scene half way though the movie, one is a sunrise of the bay bridge (it is actually sunset because the sun is setting in the west and not rising in the east). There is a mistake, Jexi is on the cloud and can control any connected device, updating the OS on one device doesn’t disable it’s ability to control any other device not being updated??