Year:
2001
Studio:
20th Century Fox/Independent
Movie:
4/5
DVD:
4/5
Teaser
Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a young, attractive, single
Jewish girl with relationship problems, as in how the heck does she
attract these loser guys? It just seems to her that she'll never find
her soulmate. Until one day one of the singles ads starts off with her
favorite quote (and a rather obscure intellectual quote it is too). Too
bad it's a Woman Seeking Woman personal ad.
Jessica hits rock bottom at her friend Joan's (Jackie Hoffman) dinner
party where the guy she is set up with turns out to already be in a
relationship and her old boyfriend Josh Myers (Scott Cohen) really digs
into her with all her foibles and shortcomings and reasons why she will
never be happy in a relationship. And that's when Jessica decides to
answer the Woman Seeking Woman ad...
Movie
Written and starred by Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt,
"Kissing Jessica Stein" is set up as a romantic comedy. But it's really
a movie about a woman who is not comfortable enough with her life to be
truly happy with someone else and how she grows and becomes a person
who is happy with herself. The movie focuses on the budding
relationship between Jessica and Helen Cooper (Juergensen), who,
although is quite comfortable in a sexual relationship, is also new to
the lesbian lifestyle.
There are the usual problems for Jessica. Although Helen is quite fine
with saying she's now gay, Jessica is hiding the relationship from her
friends, coworkers and family. Part of it is that Jessica is not sure
if she is really gay and part of it is the reaction she'll get when she
does "come out". Add Josh, who still loves Jessica and who Jessica has
some old feelings for, and you have a full story.
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Actors
Westfeldt and Juergensen play their parts well. The whole lesbian
relationship is believable even though neither actress is gay. Cohen's
character toes the line between likeable and unlikeable and he plays
both parts well. Hoffman is funny with the lines she gets. She put a
lot of zest into simple words. Tova Feldshuh, playing Jessica's mom
Judy, is the picture of motherhood.
As with most independent films, the actors are not household names. But
then again, most actors toil in semi-obscurity and love their
profession. Westfeldt and Juergensen got to write and star in their own
film. They are proud of their work and had fun putting it together and
it shows.
DVD
Two fine though not spectacular commentary tracks, one with Director
Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and Cinematographer Lawrence Sher, the other
with Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt. I guess the problem I
had was that both commentaries were moment to moment. It would have
been nice if one of them took a step back and gave a bigger picture --
the background for the story and how the film was put together. But I'm
expecting too much.
The movie is in wide-screen format. There are lots of deleted scenes
with commentary by Juergensen and Westfeldt. A short behind-the-scenes
featurette and the trailer round out the extra material.
Recommendations
The writing is very good and you really feel for the characters. The
"coming out" scenes are hilarious and touching. The ending is
bittersweet but understandable. This is a movie that I watched the
whole way through and thoroughly enjoyed. Much recommended. |