Review: Anyone who stumbles into this film most likely does so because they are expecting anything other than a documentary. Don’t worry though, I’m not a lonely creep; just someone easily suckered into films by friends who say, “it’s a documentary... about sex.” But use my personal story as a warning, this is actually a really interesting premise gone totally awry. Director Caveh Zahedi has the right idea trying to stir the pot and make a rather unconventional documentary. Unlike most personal tales, this doesn’t follow the Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock protocol where every character knows the camera exists. Instead, it is more reminiscent of High Fidelity or an early Woody Allen film where only the main character knows he’s being filmed. Of course, this presents a documentary that is loaded with recreations, but it’s a personal story developed by home movies and photos. In many ways though, that is the main problem with Zahedi’s film. He gets too wrapped up in his recreations that he forgets about the real stuff. And, he happens to be one of the single worst actors in the history of film (a point that he at least acknowledges). Because of this, the audience endures some bizarre R rated sex scenes or fake crying instead of hearing or seeing the actual thing (he happens to record his first session in sex addict anonymous, but chooses to only play a small portion). Zahedi is evidence of the problem most experimental filmmakers encounter: they rely too much on their gimmick to develop other important aspects of their movie. For instance, there is no progression, no tension, and certainly no climax in I am a Sex Addict (go ahead and chuckle, I know I did after writing that). Everything is static, especially Zahedi. You know he is recreating details that he regrets (or should regret) but he never expresses remorse, nor does he reflect on the joy of his new found love, nor does he reflect on his failed marriage that occurred after he was in therapy. As an audience member, these are all things I want from a story that is seemingly a confessional and help guide for others. Case in point: every girl he falls in love with becomes the ‘perfect girl’ and he never realizes this relationship fallacy, even in the editing room. Zahedi also gets lost in his own details, a problem that occurs to most filmmakers reciting their own personal stories. He tends to focus on the minutia of every relationship before realizing he is running out of time and has to end his film. He rarely spends anytime on his efforts in sex addicts anonymous and even less time on his second marriage and divorce or why he is so convinced his third marriage will be successful. These all become after thoughts to his bizarre sexual journey. With all these faults, it’s hard to sit through this entire film. Even with his attempts at creativity audiences will most likely walk away from this documentary revolted at Zahedi personality and inability to show anything beyond a shallow response to his past mistakes. Review by Matthew Abshire Informative: 2- he does go in to quite a bit of detail about his sex-capades, but is that really information you need? Entertainment: 1- it starts out great, then crashes hard 15 minutes later Technical: 2- a creative approach is lost in the minutia of nonsense and poor storytelling Overall: 1.5- I really was pulling for this film to be good, but I can’t suggest this to anyone, not even my enemies
 
Format: TV Year: 2005 Running Time: 99 Min Distributor: IFC Films Producer: Thomas Logoreci, Greg Watkins and Caveh Zahedi Director: Caveh Zahedi Date Reviewed: 3-29-2009 Story: Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi uses an unconventional mix of home movies, candid confessionals and reenactments to chronicle his own struggles with sex addiction in this award-winning autobiographical comedy. Zahedi's story begins on the night of his third marriage, an event that triggers self-examination into how his obsession with prostitutes and unabashed honesty resulted in failed relationships. Zahedi, Rebecca Lord and Emily Morse star (NetFlix).