This movie is often described as 'When Sally met Sally...', and that is an accurate portrayal of what this movie is. It's a love story like any other, but this story is different. We have the normal 'two people meet and fall in love' scenario, but the difference here is that these two characters are the same sex, and that's what sets the film apart from it's counterparts. The central character is the lady from the title; Jessica Stein. Jessica is caught in a New York metropolis; populated by shallow people, people that are more interested in setting dates up with their friends and learning the dictionary cover to cover than they are in forming proper relations with people. This is the reason that Jessica can't find herself a man, she isn't happy to settle for second best and she wants more from a relationship than any man she knows can give her. So, after being told why she can't find herself a man by her big-headed colleague, Josh Myers; Jessica decides to step outside of her box a little and answers an ad in the 'women seeking women' section of the newspaper.
Enter Helen Cooper; the lady that placed the ad, and seasoned bi-sexual. She's sexy, quirky, funny and all together lovable; as Jessica says at one point; "Who wouldn't want to have sex with you?", and that is my thoughts entirely. At first, Jessica is cautious, she is predominantly straight at the end of the day and she's in over her head at first. However, the two hit it off almost immediately, and we get to watch their romance blossom. The fact that lesbianism (or homosexuality in general) is taboo is always apparent throughout this film. Helen is more of a free spirit, and the only friends of hers that we see are gay anyway, so she is always open about it. It's not the same story for Jessica, however; she's always been straight, so being open about such a relationship isn't so easy for her. That's the second half of this story; not only is it a comedy; it's also a social commentary, and it rings true not just for this subject; but just about anything that people do that isn't of the norm.
The two leads are played very well by Jennifer Westfeldt (Jessica) and Heather Juergensen (Helen). These two not only do the acting, but they also wrote the film. It is evident that women wrote it, as it has a very feminine feel throughout. There is no sex in the movie, which might disappoint some viewers and instead the movie focuses on the relationship between the women and the impact that it has on their lives. This is a very good thing, as what could have been lost in a myriad of nudity and sexual innuendo, actually comes off as a very personal study of a taboo relationship. The film is also very funny. The humour on offer isn't overly blatant, and is mostly very dry; but it's definitely there and certain moments of the film literally had me in stitches.
Despite all that I've so far, however; this movie isn't perfect. The character of Jessica, although obviously born of the social-conscious New York atmosphere, and therefore it is to be expected, sometimes goes over the top and can come across as being very annoying. Aside from that, the film features far too much music. It's practically saturated in it, and it's always that sad women's elevator music that I hate. The film also loses steam in it's third act, and never regains the humour and pace of the first two. Like (too) many romance films, Kissing Jessica Stein features an ambiguous ending. Call me old fashioned, but I like a film to end properly and therefore I don't like ambiguous endings, so that was a turn-off for me. However, Kissing Jessica Stein is an underrated gem and is most definitely romantic comedy at the top of it's game. See it, you won't regret it.
