Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

Writers (WGA):

Heather Juergensen (written by) &
Jennifer Westfeldt (written by)

Release Date:

21 June 2002 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

When it comes to love, sometimes she just can't think straight.

Plot:

Jessica Stein is a single, straight, successful, journalist, part of a bonded Jewish family living in New York City...

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | New York City | Personal Ad | Malaprop | Wedding

Awards:

8 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Westfeldt	...	Jessica Stein
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Judy Stein
Esther Wurmfeld	...	Grandma Esther
Hillel Friedman	...	Rabbi
Ben Feldman	...	Himself
Robert Ari	...	Sidney Stein
David Aaron Baker	...	Dan Stein
Jennifer Carta	...	Rachel - Dan's Fiancée
Ben Weber	...	Larry
Brian Stepanek	...	Peter
Nick Corley	...	Howard
Jackie Hoffman	...	Joan
John Cariani	...	Chuck
Scott Cohen	...	Josh Meyers
Christopher Berger	...	Malaprops Guy

Also Known As:

Seeking Same (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Iceland:L | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Greece:K-13 | USA:R | UK:15 | Canada:18A | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Guilford, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

The role of the mother was written especially for Tovah Feldshuh.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Helen and Jessica are arguing outside the shop, you can see people in the background looking at them. Obviously these weren't extras, but bystanders who stopped on the street to watch the movie being shot.

Quotes:

Martin: C'mon. C'mon. This is not something you can try on and see if it fits, okay? I can't put black shoe polish on my face and join a gospel choir, 'cause, I don't know, I don't feel so white no more.

Movie Connections:

References Meet the Parents (2000)

Soundtrack:

That Could Happen to Us

Marinated a bit too long

I would like to begin by saying that this is most definitely not a bad a movie. For anyone starved by the vapid potboilers showing today, this movie offers a refreshing change. What it does not do, however, is distinguish itself in any positive way.

My main complaint with this film is its vapid intellectualism. Quoting famous authors and using lots of fancy (even foreign) words is all good in principle, but when you fail to capture the secular humanism that all great art and literature represent you might as well be reading a McDonald's menu. To illustrate this, Jessica begins the film at a job she hates and with only the memories of a failed relationship. She ends the film in another job she hates and with only the memories of another failed relationship. Where is the personal growth? Why are we watching this? The person that wrote this story seems to believe that simply because one relationship was hetero and the other homosexual, this somehow makes things different. I do not draw such distinctions.

Another thing I did not like about the film was its poor characterizations. The arguments in the film are so trivial that it depends on deep characters to make us believe they are real. I mean anyone that requires literature to get into the act of sex is really missing the point! From a masculine point of view the entire sexual experimentation shown in the film is as bland and uninteresting as the men Jessica is shown dating.

One last comment I would like to make is that the thing this movie does best is bring itself down. Routinely Jessica is told, "You're too obsessed with perfection in others", and that is exactly true for the entire film. She is also told "you're too conservative sexually for this kind of lifestyle", and this is true as well. What I would like to see is some kind change in Jessica to identify with these issues. To use a quote, "we must learn to be happy because of and not in spite of our flaws". Rent Manhattan for a true thinking person's film, and leave this on the shelf.