‘Ladies First’ review: Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike in a high-concept but hopelessly predictable Netflix comedy

You don’t have to have seen the 2018 French film based on it to predict exactly where it will be Ladies first Easy going every step of the way. This comedic tale of an arrogant, sexist CEO who gets his comeuppance when he hits his head and wakes up to find himself in a world dominated by women, hits every satirical note you’d expect but provides more knowing chuckles than actual laughs. A cast of ridiculously over-qualified British actors do their best to elevate the content of this Netflix comedy directed by Thea Sharrock (Little villain Messages, I am before you), but it’s a heavy lift.

Sacha Baron Cohen, who unusually does not rely on altering his vocal and physical attributes for comedic effect, plays Damian, an advertising company executive who revels in his misogynistic attitudes and playboy lifestyle. He’s eyeing an upcoming promotion at the hands of his boss (Charles Dance), strutting around the office to the tune of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” (One of a very large number of live soundtrack selections).

Most egregiously, he treats fellow executive Alex (Rosamund Pike) in a terribly condescending manner during company meetings strategizing about an ad campaign for its latest client, Guinness. He treats her so badly, in fact, that she quits. But during their subsequent angry confrontation in the street, Damian crashed into a pole and knocked himself out.

It’s not hard to guess what happens next, as he wakes up in a topsy-turvy world where the agency’s receptionist (Fiona Shaw) is now the CEO and the cleaning woman (Katherine Hunter) is a top executive. Alex is largely in charge, and the men at the agency, including Damian and his former boss, are treated with cynicism, and sexism in exactly the opposite direction.

Things are going smoothly in his family home, where his mother now sits on the sofa watching TV while his father works in the kitchen. And his accomplished dentist sister (Emily Mortimer) frequently amuses herself with fart jokes.

Damian tries to get things back to normal by hitting his head again, but to no avail. Now, buoyed by the advice of a streetwise eccentric (Richard E. Grant) who has several doves perched on his head, he attempts to rise through the ranks of the company once again using masculine wiles. It’s not easy, because when he tries to make suggestions on a company strategic mission, he says things like “You need to relax” and “Don’t get too emotional.”

Screenwriters Natalie Krinsky, Cinco Paul, and Katie Silberman clearly had fun reversing all the sexual stereotypes they could think of with gags like the female construction workers flirting with Damian in the street; His attempt to become “practical” for career advancement through things like the “testicle bra” and waxing of body hair (reference 40 year old virgin-Pain screams style); Of course, order a regular salad for dinner instead of steak.

When Damian and Alex end up in bed together even though she is now his boss, they engage in a wrestling match over which of them will be on top.

It’s mildly amusing but very explicit, including explicit sexual reversals in book titles like Harriet Potter and Donna Quixote and retail outlets like Burger Queen and Victor’s Secret. Not to mention the female Pope Beatrice.

The film moves quickly enough, with the gags coming at a consistent pace, inevitably landing some of them. The performers certainly know how to sell the material, with Cohen amusingly leaning into his character’s humiliation, Pike engagingly reveling in her character’s dominance, and the top-notch supporting cast going through their paces like pros.

But long before Alex reverses the stereotypical male-female dynamic by showing no interest in a relationship after she and Damian have a one-night stand, she realizes that despite her high concept, Ladies first He is hopelessly old-fashioned in his sarcastic arrogance. No need to guess that Damien has seen the previous error of his ways by the end of the film.