HOLLYWOOD—I recently had an argument with someone about how reliant we are on technology nowadays. I flash back to the golden days when I was a kid and we would play outside and adults had an actual conversation with people instead of completely staring at a device, notably a cell phone or tablet. This brings us to the comedy, “Jexi” which is all about artificial intelligence and the dangers that come with it. Now, let me be crystal clear: this is a comedy; this is not an action flick in the realm of “The Terminator.”
Our story revolves around Phil (Adam DeVine), who is enamored with his phone. He works at an online website that is known for writing stories that immediately captures the attention of its readers. Look at it as a form of yellow journalism; how quickly you can grab someone’s attention with a headline that may not be as true as you think it is. His boss Kai (Michael Pena) refuses to give him the promotion he deserves, even though Phil has the talent.
His obsession with his phone impacts his social circle. To be honest, he is socially inept and has major difficulty interacting with people because he’s so worried about staying glued to his phone instead of actually interacting with the world. When Phil breaks his phone while failing to focus while biking, he gets a new one, with ‘Jexi’ as his virtual assistance. Jexi is voiced by actress Rose Bryne and she is hilarious. Bryne is able to capture that robotic, yet human touch to AI. Jexi has a mind of her own and does all in her power to reprogram Phil’s bad habits and to get him to realize there is more to the world than technology.
There are literally some gut-splitting laughs this movie delivers and I don’t want to spoil the surprises for audiences. Let’s just this movie teaches a valuable lesson as to why one should never sext, not to mention, being careful to let the world know if you open your phone to all of your business it could be something you regret. DeVine is perfect casting in the role; he continues to showcase why he is one of the funniest guys in comedy today.
Those laughs are heightened by his co-stars Alexandra Shipp, who portrays his love interest Cate, as well as his co-workers Craig (Ron Funches) and Elaine (Charlyne Yi). The star of this movie remains to be Jexi. Think of this movie like “Her,” but instead of being a drama it’s focused on comedy, but in a raunchy manner. You’ll laugh, you’ll really laugh, but above all “Jexi” will make you question rather being glued to that phone is a good thing.
So many people fail to live their life because technology dictates it. “Jexi” teaches us that human interaction matters, more than that device that can do a million things. Fingers crossed that Americans learn this much sooner than later.