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Films like Kissing Jessica Stein don’t come along
very often—the last movie featuring a lesbian couple was the
1999 production Better Than Chocolate —and it was with
this in mind that I highly anticipated this release, and hoped
that it would live up to the hype that I, if not the media,
generated about it. With the exception of a few plot glitches
that had more to do with my personal taste than anything inherently
wrong with the movie, I wasn’t disappointed.
A very important point about the film’s main character, Jessica
(Westfeldt): She isn’t so much opposed to the idea
of dating men as she is disgusted by the men she’s dated so
far. My point is that when we meet Jessica, she’s not a lesbian;
she’s just fed up with men. This is crucial to the rest of
the film and influences most, if not all of what happens from
beginning to end. With that said, Jessica stumbles across
a personal ad placed by Helen (Juergensen), who, in
spite of being female, is a perfect match for Jessica. The
two meet—Jessica begrudgingly, Helen willingly—and begin a
relationship amid some doubt and serious sexual hang-ups on
Jessica’s part, which I suppose is to be expected considering
the huge lifestyle leap she makes, seemingly overnight. Helen,
to her credit, is patient and supportive. Jessica, unfortunately
for Helen, is picky and petty and very much a real-life character.
And Jessica’s biggest problem is perhaps understandable:
She refuses to tell anyone about her newfound love for Helen
for fear of being rejected by her friends and family (especially
her mother, who is constantly trying to set up Jessica with
Nice Jewish Men she can’t even pretend to be interested in).
Helen, also understandably, resents Jessica’s secrecy and
breaks off their relationship. The two eventually get back
together, only to break up for good when it becomes clear
to Helen that Jessica doesn’t want a woman any more. Jessica,
instead, is interested in men again, namely Josh (Cohen),
an old college boyfriend and former boss who plays a small
but significant role in the film. So Helen finds another girlfriend,
Jessica and Helen remain the best of friends, and life goes
on.
I (and much of the audience) laughed throughout the comparably
short 94 minutes afforded for this film, but the ending left
a lot to be desired. Despite my annoyance with too-cute movies
that end with the happy lovers strolling off into the sunset,
all of their problems resolved; and my annoyance with Jessica,
who wasn’t always likable due to her hang-ups with everything
—I would have liked for just this one film to end with the
happy couple still happy. Together. I was left with the feeling
that Helen was simply a stepping-stone for Jessica. The end
of Jessica and Helen’s relationship also signaled the end
of Jessica’s dating rut, and she was content to date men again
as if Helen had never happened. Sure, in the end both of them
found what they wanted, but shouldn’t this genre of movie
lend itself to a happily-ever-after (together) ending, if
for no other reason than to send out the message that not
only can lesbian relationships be successful, but that they
can be depicted as being successful on film? The end of Kissing
Jessica Stein , however, does keep with the realities
of life, and the film could do a lot worse than to depict
life without the glamour that is often thrown in to appease
the Hollywood-engrossed masses.
— Sarah Andrews
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