REVIEW: JEXI (2019)

“What does this bitch have that I don’t?”

“Well, a soul, for one.”

“Does she have Google maps?”

“No!”

Jexi tells the story of Phil, a young man who’s obsessed with his cell phone. I mean, he takes it EVERYWHERE. But when an accident forces him to get a new phone with the newest operating system, Jexi, the phone takes over, throwing Phil’s life into utter chaos. To say that Jexi is similar to Spike Jonze’, her, is incredibly disrespectful to Jonze and all those involved. No, Jexi is a bland comedy that takes its thought-provoking premise and ruins it on execution.

Adam Devine continues to “try” to make us laugh, but all he’s really doing is screaming in every scene, and hoping he’ll get a laugh. It’s not only in Jexi, but Devine has pigeonholed himself into playing the same character. And in every film, the audience remains immune to his “charms.” As we see him fall in love with Cate, played by Alexandra Shipp, it’s one cringe after another, as the film lays it on thick with his ineptitude of trying to get a girl to like him. I was going to say how a few of the characters were funny, but in reality, none of the characters were funny. Even those more established comedians failed to produce any laughs. If I were to praise this film for one thing, I would say that Rose Byrne, who plays the possessed operating system, is probably the one redeeming quality in Jexi. Though her quick one-liners can be humorous every now and again, it’s hard to really appreciate them when she’s primarily working with Devine the whole time.

The ideas behind the story are interesting; I’ll give it that. As we live in a world where we are constantly on our phones, what would happen if our phones came to life and turned on us. To be honest, it’s a scary thought. But from the moment Jexi gets started, all the possibilities of an exciting story are thrown out the window. With every unfunny joke it tells, the film digs itself more and more into a hole. And before you know it, the film gets to a point where it can’t dig itself out. Jexi, if I must so blatantly put it, is like watching a comedian dying a slow death on stage. You feel that with each passing scene, Jexi is grasping at straws trying to stay afloat. But sadly, not even the weird penis jokes, which appear to be the film’s last ditch effort to be funny, won’t even do it for the audience.

From the moment you walk out of the theater, Jexi fails to have any grasp on your mind. You’ll probably think to yourself, “I saw that, but I don’t remember much.” But maybe that’s for the best. Jexi is nothing more than a soon-to-be bargain bin movie, that no matter how discounted it is, you shouldn’t bring yourself to watch it.

Jexi

Written and Directed by: Jon Lucas and Scott Moore

Starring: Adam Devine, Alexandra Shipp, Michael Peña, Wanda Sykes, and Rose Byrne

Rating: