Touting itself as a film in which "you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be offended", Don Roos' directorial debut is a scathingly hilarious film full of unexpected twists and surprises. Definitely living up to all the advance hype, it features a sharp, funny script, great (and in one case, revelatory) performances and a kooky, irreverence that makes it quite irresistible.

Deedee Truitt (Christina Ricci) is the kind of teenager that most parents hope and pray against - willful, manipulative and dead-set on being bad to the bone (she warns her audience that she doesn't grow a heart at the end of the film). Pregnant and dissatisfied with life at home, she runs away from her mother and forces herself into the life of her half-brother, Bill (Martin Donovan), a mild-mannered gay schoolteacher, and his new boyfriend, Matt (Ivan Sergei), a dim-wit who Deedee easily seduces. Convinced he's bisexual, the father of Deedee's child and in love with her, Matt takes off with her, bringing along a substantial sum of money from a joint account. The reticient Bill, who's still lovesick over the loss of his one true love to AIDS two years ago, deigns to let them go, but Lucia (Lisa Kudrow), the brittle sister of Bill's dead lover, insists on stirring up ill will. Soon, it turns out that Matt himself had been cheating on Bill with Jason (Johnny Galecki), an ex-student of Bill's. Jealous and intent on finding out Matt's whereabouts, Jason accuses Bill of molesting him when he was a student, leading to an investigation by Carl (Lyle Lovett), the local policeman who carries a torch for Lucia. (Is this confusing you yet?) By the time Matt and Lucia track Deedee and Matt down, she's in the process of dumping him in favor of her old boyfriend, Randy (William Scott Lee). Many twists, turns and a birth later, Matt and Jason are reunited, Lucia finally succumbs to Carl's charms, Bill moves on from the memory of his dead lover, and Deedee - kicking and screaming all the way - miraculously turns into a better person.

In these rampantly PC times, a script like this one must be applauded for saying the things everyone thnks, but nobody dares to say out loud any more. With the aid of a tartly spoken voice-over, Don Roos takes aim at almost every conceivable group there is - no one is safe from Deedee's evil eye and malicious tongue. And while a lot of what she says may seem shocking, it is all exceedingly funny as well. Christina Ricci's star billing here is a little puzzling. Although she plays the title character with aplomb and gusto, her role really is somewhat minor. No matter. Ricci has talent and class to spare - even when playing a thoroughly dislikable character, she manages to make Deedee sympathetic and endearing. When she's onscreen, the film literally lights up with energy. Matching her blow for blow are Lovett, Donovan, Galecki, Sergei and Lee. The entire male cast here perform uniformly well, with Lovett exhibiting great promise in his easy line readings. Donovan, who's patented a brand of acting whereby he just seems terribly distracted and wooden, is as appealing as ever; he gets Bill's gentleness and sensitivity just right, then adds a dash of pretense and rage to make him interesting - all of this is done under his usual facade of bland resignation. In the smaller roles, Sergei, Galecki and Lee play various facets of the non-ideal male who are chewed up and spat out by Deedee's vicious mind. Each of them are convincing and play well as an ensemble. The greatest surprise, for the second time this year, is Lisa Kudrow. Perhaps Jennifer Aniston isn't the only friend with a real shot at a meaningful big screen career. As she did in "Clockwatchers", Kudrow plays against her usual type here. Lucia is an angry and bitter spinster with no happiness nor joy in her life, as well as a tongue as sharp and cutting as Deedee's. The sparring between the two women mark many high points in the movie, and Kudrow really fleshes out Lucia's rage and vulnerability without seeming to fade into the background in the face of such formidable competition from the rest of the cast. Her work here is truly revelatory and exciting.

Tying together all of these fantastic elements is Don Roos, who in addition to writing a true gem of a screenplay, capably directs his cast at a snappy pace that keeps things crackling. Running at a lean 99 minutes, his film wastes no time in snatching and running away with the audience's attention. Although the humor is caustic and dark, there are also moments of genuine tenderness and depth in the film. "The Opposite of Sex" is truly a joy to behold. You'll laugh, you may cry, but you cannot possibly be offended by something so smart and refreshing.