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Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker ... see more see more... , Jay Brannan , Peter Stickles , Alan Mandell , Adam Hardman , Ray Rivas , Justin Bond , Bitch , Shanti Carson , Justin Hagan , Jan Hilmer , Stephen Kent Jusick , Yolonda Ross , JD Samson , Daniela Sea , Miriam Shor , Rachael Cyna Smith , Paul Oakley Stovall , Lex Vaughn , Jonathan Caouette , Sook Yin Lee , Yolanda Ross , P J DeBoy , Rachael C. Smith

John Cameron Mitchell, who created a cult sensation as writer and director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, blazes a brave new trail with this comedy-drama which combines the stories of a handful of emot... read more read more...ionally unsatisfied New Yorkers with some of the most explicit sexual material to ever appear in a mainstream motion picture. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a couples' therapist who has a major relationship problem of her own -- she's never had an orgasm, and her husband Rob (Raphael Barker) doesn't seem capable of giving her one. Sophia's clients include James and Jamie (Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy), a gay couple who have been together for five years and are beginning to grow tired of one another. As James and Jamie discuss the possibility of bringing another man into the bedroom, Sophia accidentally mentions her problem, and they tell her of an upcoming "Shortbus Party," a sexual free-for-all in which straight, gay, and lesbian couples are all welcome to either talk about sex or take a more active role in the main ballroom. As James and Jamie hook up with Ceth (Jay Brannan) for some mutually satisfying action at the bash, Sophia experiments with Sapphic diversions, and begins to truly find herself when she encounters Severin (Lindsay Beamish), a professional dominatrix. However, while Sophia begins to find what she needs with Severin, she discovers that while Severin is able to casually enter into a sexual relationship, she's never been able to emotionally commit herself to someone else. Shortbus was screened in competition at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

74% liked it

53,690 ratings

Critics

66% liked it

119 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: John Cameron Mitchell

Release Date: October 20, 2006

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DVD Release Date: March 13, 2007

Stats: 4,319 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (4,319)

  • jennifxu
    May 26, 2012
    jennifxu
    Okay, honestly, I feel like the sex scenes were put there just to be titillating. Not effective.
  • danperry17
    January 13, 2012
    danperry17
    I nearly turned it off in the first 20 minutes. Shocking, graphic sex. But when the main character (a sex therapist who can't achieve orgasm, played by Sook-Yin Lee) turns up at Shortbus - a sex club named after the little school buses, filled with "the challenged and the gifted,... read more" says the host - the content makes sense, and the almost-story begins to take shape as she and the other characters look for that perfect chemistry, however weird that may be. Mainly, I think this is a film about facing your biggest sexual difficulties straight-on, and by the end, it pulled me in, and the content didn't shock me anymore. A tough watch, borderline pornographic in the beginning, but a film with a big heart that I wound up understanding... more or less. There are some story holes. Decent, though.
  • stevenecarrier
    December 12, 2010
    stevenecarrier
    If you go into "Shortbus" with only hearing about the graphic sex, you will be surprised to find that it's actually incredibly funny and enlightening. "Shortbus" is not for everyone, obviously, just the narrative alone could turn viewers off, let alone the nudity and real sexual ... read morecontact. But, if exploring characters through their sexuality is up your ally, then this will be an extremely satisfying experience. The sex, while explicit, drives the story; there is always a reason for what you are seeing. You need to look into the sex and not at it. The performances are real and funny (the actors, for the most part, all wrote their own roles) and John Cameron Mitchell directs the proceedings with vigor, delight and plenty of energy. While "Shortbus" can get dark, it works well as a comedy, a drama and a great commentary on the sexual state of America in the 00s. "Shortbus" is a unique film to be sure, and an extremely brave one.
  • 76Majikat
    January 19, 2010
    76Majikat
    Very controversial in content and a real mix of opinions on this film, first of course is does this count as pornography? Well it certainly is explicit and the Actors did have sex in this movie, so is it porn, or art imitating life? Either way if you're not particularly open mi... read morended, this won't be a film for you.

    It starts from the very first frame as a graphic and shockable open scene, but what I did find, was the further you get through the film, the more you ignore the sexual stuff and start to see this is not quite as one-dimensional as it may appear. You start seeing the non-sexual needs of each person and the individual relationships.
    .
    Ill leave the rest for you to judge!
  • FilmFanatik
    December 21, 2009
    FilmFanatik
    Porn in disguise. Pssh.
  • dunmyer
    November 20, 2009
    dunmyer
    "Shortbus" is a unique but only moderately interesting film that explores 21st-century urban sexuality. It chronicles the joys and struggles of a handful of Brooklynites as they seek romantic and sexual fulfillment. One of the techniques the characters use is to attend gatherings... read more that are essentially orgies. What's unusual is that writer/director John Cameron Mitchell (the creative mind behind 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch') has the actors actually take part in the orgies, complete with penetration.

    But "Shortbus" is not a form of pornography. There are no close-ups of penetration or anything like that. Mitchell is most interested in exploring what goes on in someone's head during sex. I suppose he wanted the actors to have real sex in order to push them and the audience more deeply into the lived experience of eroticism. As an example, one male character has never been penetrated by another man. When it does finally happen, Mitchell has the actor really get penetrated. But the camera does not spend much time on his loins; it lingers on his face to capture the emotion he is experiencing. What we see on his face is not sexual arousal but personal transformation.

    Unfortunately, this transformation is not that deep or complex. Ultimately the film is superficial, and this is its downfall. There's an air of sexual liberation that is quite nice, but it's nothing we haven't seen before. "Shortbus" experiments with form, but its content is rather hackneyed and thin.
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    There are some nice story lines in this film, I did enjoy it but it was not as good as the brilliant Hedwig! It?s very naughty! Looking forward to seeing more from john Cameron Mitchell, he is a fantastic director!
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    August 14, 2009
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Voyeurism is Participation"

    A group of New Yorkers get caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

    REVIEW
    ... read morent>
    A good movie that explores all ranges of human sexuality and makes you think. It's explicit yet isn't pornographic. The movie is not intended for the faint of heart to watch. But with an open mind, you'll learn something from watching this movie.

    The acting is the only weakness in this movie (and a few strange psychedelic scenes in the end), which explains the score I give the film. But, I applaud James Cameron Mitchell for directing a movie that so candidly and honestly explore all the relationship issues that all human beings have, and not just limit it to a category of people. While many may dismiss this movie as a poor excuse to shock people with sex, people who delve deeper will find that the director has a deep understanding of what a majority of people on this planet go through in their every day love life.

    Check it out, withhold your judgment, and stay open to ideas. I think it will teach you something.
  • jjnxn
    August 12, 2009
    jjnxn
    Trashy, arty vulgar junk.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 19, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    The film is essentially not about sex, but about people who find that sex is the only way they can communicate with one another. Unfortunately, the film follows too many characters and gets extremely tedious in its last act.

View All Shortbus Reviews

Critic Reviews

Mark Bourne
March 4, 2008
Mark Bourne, Film.com

Shortbus is not, above all, 'dirty.' What it is, in fact, is a nice movie, one of the nicest to come down the pike since March of the Penguins. Full Review

Andrew Sarris
November 1, 2006
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

One woman's quest for the perfect orgasm may strike sophisticated viewers as the stuff of sexual farce at best, but Sook-Yin Lee's Sofia brings both emotion and eroticism to the proceedings, and for t... Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
November 1, 2006
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

It runs out of energy before the end. Full Review

Colin Covert
October 30, 2006
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Wearing its controversy-courting eagerness to shock on its sleeve, the film aims to challenge taboos, but comes up short.

Kerry Lengel
October 26, 2006
Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic

A film that's thoughtful and exuberant, achingly sad and wildly funny. Full Review

Tom Long
October 20, 2006
Tom Long, Detroit News

Indulgent, immature, self-preoccupied and downright silly a good deal of the time, Shortbus manages to make sex look like no fun at all. Full Review

Terry Lawson
October 20, 2006
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Surprisingly sweet and unabashedly graphic. Full Review

Michael Phillips
October 19, 2006
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

At a time when American moviegoers have become numb to the rampant, mainstream pornography of violence, it's refreshing to see a non-mainstream movie that wears its heart and lust on its sleeve, and h... Full Review

Steven Rea
October 13, 2006
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Suffers from a vague, ad lib-y script and a cast that, while hardly shy, isn't exactly charismatic.

Bruce Westbrook
October 13, 2006
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

Despite the buzz about its hard-core hanky-panky, writer-director John Cameron Mitchell paints a bland, bleak portrait of navel-gazing New Yorkers driven by carnal pleasures -- or lack of them. Full Review

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Shortbus Trivia

  • Are the sex scenes in the movie Shortbus real?  Answer »
  • which film directed by john cameron mitchell erm... featured the lives of a sex therapist who had her own troubles in that department?  Answer »
  • In the 2006 film Shortbus, which character says "It's just like the 60's. Only with less hope."?   Answer »
  • Finish this quote from the 2006 film Shortbus (said by Justin Bond): "As my dear departed friend Lotus Weinstock used to say: 'I used to wanna change the world. Now I just wanna leave the room with a little ________.'"   Answer »
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