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Review by Susan Shea Kissing Jessica SteinIt's Annie Hall meets Bridget Jones' Diary meets Go Fish. Kissing Jessica Stein is not a lesbian film. Some lesbians may be disappointed, especially given the hype surrounding its release, and a part of me was too. The rest of me was delighted to see a funny, well written lesbian-positive film rather than a bad, earnest lesbian romance. The film is witty, quirky and deeply New York; think Woody Allen when he was still funny, with a twist. But it also has profoundly serious moments and tackles a host of important issues without becoming preachy. Kissing Jessica Stein is the story of two straight girls, Jessica and Helen (Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen, also the film's writers), who, having grown tired of the 'slim pickins' straight dating scene, decide to give each other a try. This particular story has not been told onscreen before and certainly not with such subtle understanding, humour and sophistication. 
Through their budding relationship, the film effortlessly explores the complexities of sexual identity in a truly entertaining and strangely subversive way, setting up sexual orientation not as something fixed, but rather fluid, with a wide and unexpected range. The coming-out scenes, marked by exceptional acting performances, are among the most real and heart-wrenching I've seen. The film also features compelling secondary characters: Jessica's mother (Tovah Feldshuh) goes well beyond the traditional Jewish Mom stereotype, delivering a real person with depth, as she struggles to respect her daughter's choices; Jessica's best friend gives new meaning to the word 'character,' and Helen's gay male buddies bring a camp but never clichéd humour to every scene they're in. Some sequences are loosely borrowed from other movies: the pleading-for-sex/reading in bed scene from Annie Hall, the dramatic "stop-hiding-me-in-your-closet" moment from a half dozen gay and/or lesbian classics. But they are given new life here in this altered context and are so well done that nobody will care. 
As a lesbian, I found it hilarious and strangely gratifying to watch a couple of straight chicks cope with the unknown twists and turns of developing lesbian identity, not to mention hugely ironic, when I remember the considerable pain and effort legions of dykes have spent trying to be straight. Discuss Kissing Jessica Stein on our message board! |
Info(USA 2002)D: Charles
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