Postmodern Electric Dreams (Jexi)
Jexi is a lonely guy expands his life romantic comedy. It’s not terribly groundbreaking in terms of story or devices, but what it lacks in innovation it makes up for in being genuinely funny. I found myself laughing from start to finish.
The titular character is an “intelligent assistant” software installed on some unnamed brand of smartphone. Voiced by Rose Byrne, she promises to make Phil’s (Adam Devine) life better. Brash and foul mouthed – Jexi is rated R for language – she berates him into asking out the girl from the bike shop (Alexandra Shipp). Things go awry because Jexi’s 200,000 software anomalies cause her to develop emotions for Phil.
It would be easy to discuss this film as a cautionary tale about over indulgence in social media, lack of privacy, and reliance on “smart” devices. While there is a sort of “look what can happen to you” implication, the film is really just having a good time with the material and striking chords at the heart of the human condition enmired by the Internet Of Things.
As a character, Phil is the essence of this condition. Despite having a degree in journalism, his job is to write lists for a click-bait encouraging news site. His boss (played by the ever brilliant Michael Pena) demands that one of their lists goes viral every day. Naturally, Phil is completely tethered to his phone. He can’t even navigate his way to his home or office without Google maps.
Adam Devine is an excellent brunt for the film’s jokes and pratfall-esque humor. Jexi’s absence of filter – and Phil’s acceptance of user agreement without reading it – gives her free reign to play havoc with Phil and consumer technology humor.
Jexi is a fun film that lives up to the trailer, which didn’t give away all the jokes.