Throughout cinema history, raunchy comedies have been dominated by men, especially during the 2000s when the genre was arguably at its peak. It wasn’t until the success of Bridesmaids in 2011 that female-led comedies began to pop up more frequently, but few have quite reached the level of raunchiness of the often overlooked 2002 romantic sex comedy The Sweetest Thing. Starring Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair, The Sweetest Thing was a critical flop, scoring just 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, but gained a cult following over the years since its release. Following Christina (Diaz) and her best friends Courtney (Applegate) and Jane (Blair), The Sweetest Thing is a goofy, crass romantic comedy about three career women in their late twenties who aren’t preoccupied with marriage or meeting other traditional milestones. Newly added to Netflix, The Sweetest Thing doesn’t get the recognition it deserves as a precursor to some of the most outrageous female-led comedies of the 21st century.
What Is ‘The Sweetest Thing’ About?
Set in San Francisco, The Sweetest Thing follows 28-year-old commitment-phobe Christina, an interior designer known for ghosting men before the term ‘ghosting’ existed. While she and Courtney are romance-averse, their less outgoing friend Jane is newly heartbroken when her boyfriend breaks up with her just three days before their one-year anniversary. To help her move on, Christina and Courtney take her to the club, where Christina tries to set her up with Peter (Thomas Jane), who snubs Jane and reprimands Christina for her inappropriate matchmaking efforts. In spite of herself, Christina finds herself crushing on Peter. After declining his invite to an after-party at his hotel, the next day Christina and Courtney decide to go on a road trip to Somerset to track Peter down at his brother’s wedding to profess her feelings.
Though Christina’s feelings for Peter are what drive the story, The Sweetest Thing is less of a romantic comedy and more of a buddy comedy with a romantic subplot. Friendship is at the center of the film, as is the women’s unabashed honesty about enjoying sex without commitment and pursuing what makes them happy without being preoccupied with finding the perfect guy to settle down with. Christina and Courtney go through plenty of mishaps on their road trip, but they don’t sulk at the bizarre situations they’ve found themselves in or compare themselves to other women but roll with the punches and support each other in their irrationality. The Sweetest Thing doesn’t take itself, or anything, too seriously—a throwaway line from Diaz’s character captures the tone of the film right as Christina and Courtney make it to the wedding. When she bumps into the bride (played by Parker Posey) suffering from pre-wedding jitters, Christina reassures her she looks beautiful and that, if she’s not happy, she can always just get divorced.
‘The Sweetest Thing’ Paved the Way for Some of the Best Raunchy Female-Led Comedies of Today
Since it was critically panned and didn’t perform exceedingly well at the box office, The Sweetest Thing doesn’t have the kind of legacy that Bridesmaids does. But it does deserve recognition for paving the way for some of the more popular raunchy female-led comedies in the years that followed, including Bridesmaids, Girls Trip, and more recent titles like Bottoms and Joy Ride. Directed by Roger Kumble, The Sweetest Thing was written by Nancy Pimental, who was a staff writer for South Park for several years prior and went on to write and produce many episodes of Shameless. Unlike other male-led sex comedies of that era, The Sweetest Thing doesn’t objectify its female leads and even pokes fun at the male gaze, but don’t worry, there are still plenty of dick jokes to go around. Jane, the most demure character when it comes to sex, is subject to some of the film’s craziest moments, including a humiliating trip to the dry cleaners involving a semen-stained dress and one scene involving a jaw-dropping oral sex mishap that must be seen to be believed.
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Though Christina does find romantic love with Peter, The Sweetest Thing doesn’t make a point to teach us the lesson that all women need romantic love to find happiness. The budding romance between Christina and Peter doesn’t dwell on sentimentality and brings humor back into the fold once they reunite. It’s really the friendship between Christina, Courtney, and Jane that makes the film work. Diaz, Applegate, and Blair make for a charismatic trio with great chemistry and comedic timing that makes their friendship believable and an utter joy to watch. And any discussion of The Sweetest Thing would be incomplete without mentioning the absurd, spontaneous musical number about complimenting a man’s penis size in the middle of a Chinese restaurant. The scene is notably absent from the version of the film on Netflix but can be viewed on the unrated DVD version and on YouTube.