The Opposite of Sex

Unpredictability is the great joy of comedy The Opposite of Sex about a hard-as-nails teen (Chriarin Ricci) who seduces her half brother's gay lover and leads both men on a cross-country chase, and once you listen to the commentary, provided by first-time director Don Roos, his editor, and his producer, you discover just how much of this fresh tone resulted from inexperience, lack of money, and sheer how-do-we-fix-this-shot desperation. An appendix of five deleted scenes demonstrates the wisdom of cutting them, since they spell out things audiences could discern on their own, but there's one from Lisa Kudrow and Martin Donovan's first day of shooting that's worth catching. Watching them stumble toward a style for their comedy of melancholy combat makes the film's impeccable balance even more remarkable. A-