Leigh Paatsch reviews Thanks for Sharing

MANY of the characters in this muddled rom-com-drama have one thing in common. There's a party going on in their pants, and everyone's invited.

MANY of the characters you will meet in this muddled rom-com-drama have one thing in common. Every waking hour, there is a party going on in their pants, and everyone's invited.

So it goes with the modern-day affliction of sex addiction.

Mark Ruffalo stars as Adam, a recovering bonkaholic who has been "sexually sober" for the past five years.

The consensus at the local self-help group - where we will encounter addicts of all shapes, sizes and fetishes - is that Adam might just be ready for a regular relationship.

Adam thinks it could be time as well. With the support of his group sponsor Mike (Tim Robbins), Adam tentatively takes the first steps towards total monogamy.

At some point, he will have to tell his new partner, Phoebe (Gwyneth Paltrow), he was once a slave to his own libido.

Mark Ruffalo and Gwyneth Paltrow in a scene from Thanks For Sharing. (AP Photo/Roadside Attractions, Anne Joyce)

Meanwhile, every website, magazine, billboard and even a woman walking down his street pose direct threats to everything Adam has achieved so far.

As a film, Thanks For Sharing seems unsure of how to balance the genuine laughs on offer with the serious nature of the condition it is depicting,

A number of subplots - including one where Mike's own son (Patrick Fugit) is fighting a losing struggle with his urges - gets the mix correctright.

However, there's sometimes something kind of forced about the Adam-Phoebe scenes that fails to either convince or amuse.

When itdoes comes to convincing and amusing, both departments in Thanks For Sharing are comprehensively owned by the singer Pink in a rare acting role.

Her earthy portrayal of a young woman who's out to suppress her impulses without smothering her identity points to what this flawed affair might have been.