Review of Sex, Lies & Obsession

In 2001, this made for TV movie aired on Lifetime (naturally). It stars Harry Hamlin (from Clash of the Titans and LA Law fame) and his real life spouse Lisa Rinna as a couple dealing with sex addiction and how it is destroying the family. Cameron Thomas is a family man who is hiding a big secret- he's obsessed with sex. During the course of the movie, he shamelessly indulges in phone sex, picking up prostitutes and sex with strangers he just met at the airport. Now, in today's society, sex is everywhere. It's on television, it's in the movies, it's in the lyrics to songs. It's very hard to accept or believe that a love for sex is a major problem or a severe disorder. But it is. It's nymphomania and it's not good for you since anything in excess doses is not good for you- whether it's food consumption, drugs, alcohol etc. In the case of Cameron Thomas, he finds that his addiction to sex, pornography, etc, is destroying his marriage and even his life. Perhaps this is Lifetime's way of making a point about married men and sex addiction. It's ultimately more fatal and destructive for a married man to be addicted to sex while he is supporting a family. But I think it can also be argued that single men are in danger too. AIDS, and even if protection is used, the dehumanizing effect of sex, the detachment from any real feelings. The hardest part to watch is how distant the couple is getting. His selfishness, and it is selfish to be a sex addict while being married with kids, is consuming him and further tearing down the ties of family bond. He doesn't spend time with his son, or daughter, and he is neglecting his wife, who, if anything, ought to be the object of his obsession.Harry Hamlin makes a fine performance, getting so deeply into the character that one thinks maybe Harry Hamlin himself knows first hand about the problem. LOL He is married to Lisa Rinna, who plays his wife in the movie, and it was also their idea to present this film to other couples to enlighten them on the subject. They make a fine team, Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin and it's great to know Harry Hamlin is a faithful husband and great dad. Lifetime makes good films, really, but if it gets too over-dramatic its only to prove a point, this time being that sex addiction/nymphomania is just as bad as any major disease of the mind.