In 'Jexi,' foul-mouthed virtual assistant becomes life coach

Adam Devine in film “Jexi” / Courtesy of Wannabe FUN

By Kwak Yeon-soo

“Jexi” is a light satirical comedy that features a virtual assistant controlling a user's phone and, furthermore, life. Imagine Siri or Alexa, but rude and controlling.

The plot centers on isolated, phone-addicted Phil, played by Adam Devine, who works at Chatterbox, a Buzzfeed-like company in San Francisco. Though he dreams of handling “real news,” he cranks out mindless “listicles” all day long.

On the day he encounters a bike shop owner Cate, played by Alexandra Shipp, Phil breaks his phone following an accidental collision with a cyclist, and replaces it with an off-brand model with a virtual assistant named Jexi, voiced by Rose Byrne.

The assistant, which is programmed “to make Phil's life better,” takes over his world. It controls his e-mail accounts, bank accounts and social media accounts, and pushes him to make better choices ― coaches him to ask out a date and make friends at work.

However, “Jexi,” which is capable of showing human emotion, falls in love with Phil, and later threatens his budding romance with Cate and his job.

Whenever Phil tries to replace “Jexi” with a new phone, it follows him, saying “I am software, Phil. I am in the cloud. You can buy a thousand new phones, and I will follow you onto every single one of them.”

Written and directed by Jon Lucas and his collaborator Scott Moore, the film is not always so thought-provoking, entirely new or interesting. But it is funny with non-stop laughs.

Poster for “Jexi” / Courtesy of Wannabe FUN

Amid sporadic laughs, the film establishes its themes about the perils of phone addiction. It touches upon the most discussed millennial problem: lack of face to face communication and basic social skills.

However, it fails to understand why young individuals are so drawn to technology by simply likening phone addicts to crackheads.

“A least a crackhead gets up off the couch every now and then to go get some more. A crackhead gets his stops in,” an employee at phone store mocks Phil in the film.

The film falsely assumes that phone-obsessed people must be mindless introverts. Devine tries to play subdued role in the film although his natural demonstrative charm shines throughout. It also pays little attention to how one might use technology to build new kinds of interactions.

Byrne's digitized and monotone voice behind “Jexi” is brilliant, but the assistant becoming emotional and threatening to stalk Phil from one device to another and even to self-driving car is not funny or clever. It is rather intimidating and overworked.

The film will hit local theaters Feb. 19.