by CHRIS BARRY

Much of the hype surrounding writer/director Sudz Sutherland's debut feature, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, has been in regards to the purported raunchiness of its subject matter: one man's porn addiction and the effect it has on his sexual relationship with an actual, real live person. And I suppose, by Canfilm (read: Toronto) standards, this romantic comedy could be interpreted as vaguely out there. Nevertheless, I sincerely doubt many legitimate, card-carrying urban hipsters will be scandalized by anything this flick has to offer. While there are a handful of elements that lift Love, Sex and Eating the Bones above the level of mundane, it still feels very CANADIAN, with all the good and bad said label entails.

On the positive side, Sutherland has made a predominantly black film, starring predominantly black actors, that mercifully spares us the stereotypical characters that tend to dominate and undermine the best intentions of most African-American comedies (like those painfully inane Barbershop movies). Right from the get-go, the film's main protagonist, a security guard/wannabe pro photographer played both intelligently and convincingly by occasional Spike Lee rep player Hill Harper, has sexual dysfunction issues. Hill is obsessed with pornography and can only get a boner when he's watching it on the tube. This makes for a few problems when he meets the girl of his dreams, a conservative and temporarily celibate advertising executive played by ex-MusiquePlus VJ Marlyne Afflack. If these two are ever going to have a meaningful relationship, Hill will first have to learn to pork her without relying in his porn stash for inspiration. Yes, the premise wears thin after a while, but Harper and Afflack do have some chemistry together and many of the film's characters are relatively convincing. Even Ed Robinson of Barenaked Ladies fame delivers an inspired performance as one of Hill's co-workers.

While it remains to be seen if Sutherland will ever evolve into Canada's very own Spike Lee, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones is nevertheless an impressive debut effort.

Love, Sex and Eating the Bones opens Friday, April 23 at the Cinéma du Parc

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