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| 2002 |
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Rated: R for sexual content and
language. |
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Genre: Romantic Comedy |
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Directed By: Charles Herman Wurmfeld |
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Running Time: 1:34 |
| Review
by: Felix Vasquez Jr. |
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Review Date: |
DVD Features:
Audio Commentary - 1.
Heather Jurgensen -Star, Jennifer Westfeldt - Star
Outtakes
Featurette
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer |
| If you like this,
try: Relax, it's just sex, To Wong Foo, thanks for everything Julie
Newmar |
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KISSING JESSICA STEIN |
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Jessica Stein is a lonely girl who works at a
newspaper. She's constantly set-up by her mother with a lot of men, but the
dates are never successful. Frustrated, she answers an alternative lifestyle
personal ad in hopes of making friends with a girl. Inadvertently, the girls
helps her to explore the alternative lifestyle in which she'll discover herself
and her own happiness.
I was very fascinated by this when it came
out back in early 2002, so when it finally came on, I was very anxious. What I
got was a rather tender movie. This girl struggles with the dating scene and
constantly experiences loser after loser in the first half with a hilarious
sequence that shows her on many dates with these odd men, one of whom has her
pay the entire bill for the dinner. Jessica, (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a very
timid and meek character who is very likeable. She's often giggling throughout
the flick which makes her an enjoyable character. She does tend to lose all hope
and explores lesbianism with a rather promiscuous man-eater Helen who is
instantly flirting with Jessica throughout the movie. I thought she was a very
interesting character symbolizing the complete opposite persona of Jessica's
character. The movie has a lot of
humorous moments, including one when the extremely tight knit Jessica, before
having sex with Helen, makes her read a pamphlet about lesbian sex. This scene
made me laugh aloud. Each of the lead characters are very funny and have great
chemistry with each other keeping me interested all the way through.
Though, the movie is enjoyable, it doesn't
ever truly know what to be. It tries to be a romance then a drama then a comedy
but just drops flat on all spectrals. I thought Jessica, herself was not quite a
truly likeable character and kind of annoyed me at times. I was very angry with
the ending of this film. In the end, Jessica, now fully set with her life, makes
yet another decision and decides, she's not lesbian after all. That was a
complete let-down and utterly annoying. I thought the movie was good so far with
the life-altering decision she makes throughout the film, but the climax tends
to take all that happened from the previous and just flushes it down the drain.
After watching the end a lot of people will feel that the entire movie was for
nothing because of her decision.
Mostly a flick that will translate towards
the female audience, this is an enjoyable love story with great characters, but
tends to fail in the climax, ruining the entire movie.

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