If you ever wanted a movie to spend 90 minutes making fun of society’s smartphone obsession in the least clever way possible, Jexi is the movie for you. I mean, sure, we already got the whole sentient personal assistant and phone owner falling in love in Her, but why not see how Adam Devine handles this, amirite?
Phil (Adam Devine) works as a listicle writer at Chatterbox, an obvious Buzzfeed parody. He has dreams of joining the news team at work, but little inspiration beyond that. He’s satisfied with his lonely life, with only Siri to keep him company. When Phil has to get a new phone, his life turns upside down thanks to the Jexi (Rose Byrne), the phone’s new personal assistant software. Jexi promises to make Phil’s life better, but she eventually becomes his worst nightmare.
If you want to see Michael Pena dance and quote Shia LaBoeuf, or perhaps get an uncomfortably long montage of Adam Devine attempting a dick pic, then Jexi is the movie for you. If you want to actually enjoy your trip to the theater, however, make a different choice.
Jexi isn’t aggressively bad. It’s just not cute, clever or particularly funny. It’s all such a waste when the movie had the resources to be a fun little film. It’s not just the lack of charm and humor. The heavy-handed moralizing about society’s dependence on technology feels out of place in such a light comedy. Add the moralizing to the lack of laughs and you have a total waste of a movie ticket. If you do skip my advice and head to the theater to see Jexi, you’ll probably be OK if you get bored and pull out your phone. Chances are everyone else is the theater has done the same thing.
Jexi is in theaters on October 11, 2019.
About Jexi
Phil (Adam Devine) has a major dependency issue – he’s addicted to his phone. He has no friends, he has a job writing pop culture “Top 10” lists, and his love life is non-existent. But his Facebook status is about to change. When he is forced to upgrade his phone, the latest model comes with an unexpected feature…Jexi (Rose Byrne) – an A.I. life coach, virtual assistant and cheerleader. With her help, Phil begins to get a real life. But as he becomes less dependent on his phone, Jexi’s artificial intelligence morphs into a tech nightmare determined to keep Phil all to herself, even if it means ruining his chances of finding success.