The Female Brain (film)

The Female Brain is a 2017 American comedy film directed by Whitney Cummings and written by Neal Brennan and Cummings. It is based on the 2006 book The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine. The film stars Cummings, Sofía Vergara, Toby Kebbell, James Marsden, Deon Cole, Lucy Punch, Beanie Feldstein and Cecily Strong.

The Female Brain
Theatrical release poster
Directed byWhitney Cummings
Produced byErika Olde
Michael Roiff
Whitney Cummings
Screenplay byNeal Brennan
Whitney Cummings
Based onThe Female Brain
by Louann Brizendine
StarringWhitney Cummings
Sofía Vergara
Toby Kebbell
James Marsden
Lucy Punch
Beanie Feldstein
Cecily Strong
Deon Cole
Blake Griffin
Music byJeff Cardoni
CinematographyBradford Lipson
Edited byPeggy Eghbalian
Production
company
Black Bicycle Entertainment
Night and Day Pictures
Distributed byIFC Films
Release date
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$19,225[2]

It had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17, 2017. It was released on February 9, 2018, by IFC Films.

Plot

Stoic and uptight, university neurologist Julia Brizendine (Whitney Cummings) explores the wonders of the female and male brain. She thinks she has it figured out how to outsmart her emotions, much to her assistant Abby’s (Beanie Feldstein) exasperation. Brizendine is divorced and living with her parents while Abby herself is taking way too many meds.

Realtor Lisa Hampton (Sofia Vergara) and her husband of 12 years, Steven (Deon Cole) have a son Tyler. Lisa worries their relationship has grown lackluster and they try to spice things up by going on a date and getting high on ecstasy. Nothing works so they consider separation.

Perfectionist Lexi Mercer (Lucy Punch), originally from the UK, fusses over her boyfriend of 2-3 years, Adam Simmons (James Marsden). Adam, who is friends with Steven, is fine with how he looks and isn’t about to straighten his hair as Lexi desires. They break up when Lexi is adamant about examining a tumor on his back, which turns out to be benign.

Zoe Green-Basker (Cecily Strong) is a sales manager at an advertising company and resents gender stereotyping. She is close to starting her own firm with higher ideals. She and her pro basketball athlete husband Greg (Blake Griffin) have been married for one year. One day at home from an injury, Greg resents all the people around and commits to renovating the bathroom himself. It does not go well.

As part of her studies, Brizendine scans the brains of test subjects. One day, a patient named Kevin Avery (Toby Kebbell) flirts a bit with her before heading into the MRI machine. Brizendine is stymied, despite what she’s been telling herself. The scan registers no empathy in Kevin’s brain, so Brizendine dismisses him in her mind. But he calls her the next day to ask her on a date and she reluctantly agrees. Afterwards, she swiftly initiates sex thinking that this is what he wants, but Kevin turns her down. He says he wants more, something deeper.

Brizendine moves into a new house and Kevin offers to fix an electrical wire. Again convinced her studies tell her what he wants, she makes it transactional and offers to pay him. Then when Kevin stops by her campus office because she won’t return his texts, Brizendine tells him off and says she is fine without him. He accuses her testing of being biased because of her.

Lexi visits her parents one weekend and realizes her mother fusses over her the same as she has done to Adam. She goes back to Adam’s house, who is surprised to see her with no makeup on. She apologizes for trying to change him and wants to start over.

Greg is surprised to find a contractor working on the bathroom renovation and they get into a physical fight. Zoe, who is home midday, stops the fight and says it was supposed to be a surprise for him. Furthermore, Zoe states she has quit her job and that she wants Greg to be an investor in her new company.

Brizendine herself goes in for a brain scan. Her brain reacts to the stimuli, and it is at this point that she realizes she can’t control her brain. She has to admit that female and male brains are different, and that showing emotions is not a sign of weakness. She even gives a TED talk about it. Realizing she does love Kevin, Brizendine finds him at work and admits that even if he were to ever break her heart, it would be worth it to love him.

Cast

Production

On May 23, 2016, it was announced Whitney Cummings would direct the film, with filming set to begin in July 2016.[3]

Release

The film premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17, 2017.[4] In November 2017, IFC Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film and set it for a February 9, 2018, release.[5]

Critical reception

As of June 2020, the film holds a 35% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 20 reviews with an average rating of 4.19/10.[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

References
  1. "'The Female Brain' Review". Hollywood Reporter. 2017-06-18. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  2. "The Female Brain (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  3. Dave McNary (2016-05-23). "Whitney Cummings to Direct 'The Female Brain' Movie Comedy". Variety.com. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  4. Busch, Anita (2017-06-14). "[WATCH]: 'The Female Brain' Clip: Whitney Cummings Stars and Directs". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  5. Lang, Brent (November 14, 2017). "Whitney Cummings Comedy 'The Female Brain' Sells to IFC (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  6. "The Female Brain (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  7. "The Female Brain Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 10, 2019.


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