Flak Magazine: Review of Kissing Jessica Stein, 4-8-02

It's that moment every girl dreads: Trying to get over an old boyfriend, you're on your first date with someone you met through a personal ad and you run out of things to say. What do you do? If you're Jessica Stein, you compliment her lipstick.

This unconventional but authentic scene is played out in the back of a Manhattan taxicab in Kissing Jessica Stein. In this fresh take on the traditional boy-meets-girl, Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt) meets Helen (Heather Juergensen), a sexually adventurous downtown gallery manager. Jessica loses Helen. Jessica finds herself.

Originally an off-Broadway play called "Lipschtick: The Story of Two Women Seeking the Perfect Shade," Westfeldt and Juergensen wrote the story for themselves after becoming frustrated by a dearth of good roles for women. The film starts out like any other story: Jessica is 28, unmarried and unhappy. Her mother attempts to fix her up during Yom Kippur, her best friend is having a baby and her brother has just announced his engagement. So she goes on a series of funny-tragic bad dates. This montage of one Mr. Not Even Close after another isn't breaking any new ground — dating is hell, we know — but it's enjoyable nonetheless. One man splits the check with her, to the penny, and offers to be her "accountant and boyfriend." Another talks of his "self-defecating" humor.

Add it all up and Jessica's got Bridget Jones life crisis written all over her. But instead of strutting through the office in a see-through blouse a la Renée Zellweger, Jessica decides to try something new. Enter Helen, who has plenty of men on her plate but finds herself wondering, "Who do I have to blow to get some pussy around here?"

Jessica, who isn't so sure about the girl-girl thing, almost walks out on their first date. But when Helen uses the word "marinate" in a nonfood context, Jessica can't help herself: She's smitten. From there it's just a dozen or so awkward first kisses and a "Safe Sex for Lesbians" pamphlet to same-sex bliss.

And it could have ended there, happily ever after. But this isn't your standard romantic comedy and it isn't promoting the idea that there's one perfect perfect person out there for everyone. The filmmakers take the story past basic date-movie hugs and kisses to learning and growth. It's not about whether Jessica and Helen end up together or even if Jessica is a lesbian. Helen's lipstick, as we found out in the taxi scene, was actually a combination of three different brands and colors. "You gotta blend," she tells Jessica. Instead of looking for the perfect one, as Jessica tells Helen in that taxi, Kissing Jessica Stein suggests that sometimes you have to try a little of this and a little of that until you find the right shade for you.

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