The Sweetest Thing is a raunchy, R-rated 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Roger Kumble, starring Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair. The story follows the antics of three women trying to navigate sex and relationships, looking for the mythical perfect guy, but naturally, coming up short.
Tropes:
- All Women Are Lustful: The main three female characters are either talking about sex or having lots of sex.
- Bawdy Song: "The Penis Song" is a bawdy musical number.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: "The Penis Song". Also, a running gag about Jane's lover being so dumb but also very well-endowed.
- Buddy Picture: Christina, Courtney and Jane are pictured in one at the beginning and again at the end at Christina's wedding.
- Butt-Monkey: Jane is one of the girls who suffers the most bad luck throughout the film.
- The Chikan: Christina's a Rare Female Example when she goes up to meet Peter at the club.
- Coitus Uninterruptus: Twice, involving Jane and her lover. The first time, they're interrupted having sex in the changing rooms where she works. The second time involves a bad combination of oral sex and a piercing.
- Contrived Coincidence: When Jane goes to the dry cleaners to have Courtney’s dress she loaned get the semen cleaned off it, she runs into her old elementary school teacher, during a field trip to the dry cleaners, and a priest, who has known her since she was a child, and who is having dinner with her parents. Jane feels naturally humiliated in situation.
- Cringe Comedy: A lot involving sex, stains, piercings, maggots, foul language, fake lesbiansm, unisex bathrooms, furries and romantic drama in between.
- Distracted by the Sexy: The motorcyclist who wipes out watching what looks like Christina giving Courtney road head.
- Erotic Dream: Christina has one about Peter not long after running into him at the night club.
- Eye Scream: Christina gets her eye poked by a penis while examining a glory hole in a public restroom.
- Fashion-Shop Fashion Show: "Do we have time for a montage?"
- Faux Yay: During their car trip, Christina and Courtney are mistaken by a biker to be having oral sex during the drive and Courtney fakes it in front of the biker just for the fun of it.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Why Peter and his guy friend spy on the women touching Courtney's big boobs in the club restroom. Also, why the biker got distracted seeing Courtney and Christina in the car.
- Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Christina and Courtney arrive at Christina's apartment to find their friend Jane drowning her sorrows in a pint of ice cream from being broken up with.
- Immodest Orgasm: Christina has one during her erotic dream about Peter.
- Male Frontal Nudity: A brief glimpse of a strange man's penis that hits Christina in the eye when she tries looking through the glory hole in a unisex bathroom.
- Mistaken for Gay: During their road trip, Christina and Courtney get mistaken to be going down on the other by a biker watching them. Instead of correcting him, Courtney just milks it for all its worth while Christina searches for her lip gloss that fell in the driver's seat.
- Naïve Everygirl: Despite being experienced at sex, Christina has no idea what a "glory hole" is. Lampshaded by Courtney after the disastrous unisex bathroom experience.
- Noodle Incident: When everyone in Christina's apartment is shocked to learn how Jane and her lover are stuck together during sex, one confused police cop asks how is she stuck. The guy next to him smugly replies "behind her tonsils". The cop then asks him how does he know that, and the look on the man's face not only implies from bad personal experience but is hilarious.
- Refuge in Audacity: Most of the humor in the film relies heavily on this trope, particularly the Penis Song and dance number and how Jane and her boyfriend "fix" their unfortunate situation.
- Sex Comedy
- Shout-Out:
- During their fashion montage, Courtney and Christina dress up like Harry and Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber, Sandy from Grease, Madonna from Like A Virgin, the titular character from Flashdance, and Vivien from Pretty Woman.
- While complimenting their new look, Christina says "These are the Days of Our Lives".
- Stalker with a Crush: Christina to Peter.
- Take Our Word for It: After Christina and Courtney get Jane unstuck from her lover, the audience doesn't get to see the aftermath of what her lover's penis looks like from being stuck in Jane for who knows how long but based on Christina grimacing at the sight of it is all the audience needs to know.
- The Lad-ette: All three female leads.
- Wham Line: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the wedding of Judy and...Peter Donahue."
