CAN sex be this unsexy? This could not be a more flacid, cringeworthy exploration of promiscuity. "The Big Swap" refers to wife or partner swapping. A group of five late-Thirty-early-Fortysomething transatlantic couples, who, we are told in the voice-over narrative, are the best of friends ("We were known as the crowd...") decide one night to "have a little fun": a big swap. Of course, this creates problems, frictions and doubts among the different characters, which worsen the more they meet for their semi-drunken romps (they decide to make a habit of it).

This might have been a fine idea if the characters weren't so cardboard. Despite the fact that at any opportunity somebody is flinging their clothes off for the camera - the full frontals abound - the characters are never properly fleshed out. We are meant to presume that this group of people has something special bond between them. But telling us what to think is not good enough. Director-writer Niall Johnson needs to show us.

The unwieldy size of the cast doesn't allow much time for characterisation. But even with fewer characters it is unlikely that this would have been any the less painful to watch, so embarrassing is the script at times and so seriously half-hearted are the performances.