Kissing Jessica Stein

Released 2001
Stars Jennifer Westfeldt, Heather Juergensen, Scott Cohen, Tovah Feldshuh, Jackie Hoffman
Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld
Reviewed October 5, 2002

Kissing Jessica Stein is a fun romantic comedy about two straight women who stray into carpet-munching land. That's right, they've had enough of men, so they decide to switch teams. The movie opens with some glimpses into each gal's recent dating history, which helps us see why they want to do this. First, there's repressed, neurotic Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt), who's an editor for a New York paper. Think Lisa Kudrow playing Woody Allen, and you'll have a good impression. There's an obligatory early scene of her bad blind dates, but it's simply hysterical. Like Jessica, I too enjoy language and notice when people use malapropisms or mix their metaphors, but I'm not as judgmental as she. Still, I also would have been harsh on the writer with the "self-defecating" sense of humor. This man butchers our poor defenseless language, and Jessica responds with couched sarcasm.

Then there's Helen (Heather Juergensen), who's a sexually free assistant director of an art gallery. She'd be the town slut where I grew up, but this is New York City. With help from her two wildly over-the-top gay stereotypes--er, I mean friends, Helen places a personal ad for a female seeking female for friendship and possibly more. Her friends select a quote from poet Rainer Maria Rilke:

"For it is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed: it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope."

The quote intrigues Jessica enough to answer the ad, and it's here that the movie argues that a person limits herself by not being open to absolutely everyone for love. It skirts around the issue of a person being born gay or straight, and it argues that your soul mate could be anyone. You shouldn't automatically discount half the population by labeling yourself gay or straight. I can go with that philosophy. Personally, I'll immediately discount half the population, because the very thought of touching another man makes me ill, but I think it makes sense. I don't know if someone is born gay or learns to be gay or catches the gay cooties at some point, and I don't care. I know it's probably an important point of contention between the religious and gay communities, but I don't see why anyone should care who you fall in love with. All that matters is two people fall in love and find happiness.

The film is shot in New York City, and it's breathtakingly beautiful. I don't believe for a minute that these gals could afford to live in these apartments and taxi all over the city doing the things they do, but it's gorgeous to watch. This is the first movie I've seen that shows New York's new skyline. It was filmed before 9/11, but I guess they removed the World Trace Center buildings from all shots. That's a little odd, but it would have probably been too distracting and depressing to leave them in. It's a little distracting to have so many shots of the new skyline, but the tone is so innocent it's actually uplifting. Visually, this film is a love poem to New York.

This movie is a light-hearted romantic comedy that features several stereotypes, but it has enough originality to rise above them at times. For example, there's Jessica's grandly stereotypical Jewish mother, Judy (Tovah Feldshuh), who desperately wants her spinster daughter (she's 28) to get married. Judy constantly tries to match Jessica with any Jewish man over 20 who's not homeless or on life support, but it's her character that provides the most memorable scene in the movie. It comes near the end when she has a heart-to-heart with Jessica. She starts to tell a story about how Jessica turned down the lead part in her fifth-grade play, because her co-star wasn't good enough. She refused to take part in something that couldn't be the "best of all time." Judy uses this as an analogy to tell Jessica why she can't find someone to love. Jessica's a perfectionist who demands perfection from everyone around her as well as herself, and she won't settle for anything less than perfect. Meanwhile, the play goes on with someone else, and she's left in the audience. Judy's a person who would have a heart attack if her son brought home a shiksa, so how would she react to her daughter bringing one home? Very well, thank you. This isn't one of those character transformations that comes out of the blue, because we understand Jessica's problems. The story about the play perfectly sums her up, and it shows that Judy truly understands her as well. I think Judy realizes the family's acceptance of Helen may be the last barrier Jessica has to overcome to find her happiness, so she decides to put her own happiness second to her daughter's. This is a very touching scene, and it's the heart of the movie.

There are a few problems with the film, though. First, there's the black guy with the "motherfuckin" gangsta rap that completely breaks the mood. It was a real shame for me, because I had trouble getting back into the story after that. Also, the ending is rushed. I thought it was going to end when the two were in bed, with Helen trying to get Jessica to put her book away so they could get frisky. Throughout the movie, it's obvious that Helen's the man in the relationship (i.e., the horny one), and this scene should seem familiar to all married men. Then she remembers she forgot to pick up her dry-cleaning, but Jessica tells her she picked it up. It looked like a scene from the 1940's, but with two women. I thought what a sweet ending, but then the movie fast-forwards three months to their breakup. The reason for their breakup adds a whole new dimension to their relationship that we don't get to see, and that was how Jessica was really seeking companionship. Helen realizes they're not actually lovers; they're roommates. I thought it was a realistic and interesting twist, but it was too abrupt. Still, this is a fun romantic comedy that is reminiscent of the great Annie Hall in its love-affair with New York, and it comes at a time when the Big Apple needs a hug.

Reviewed by Bill Alward
October 5, 2002
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