Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21619 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-17
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Hebrew
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Kissing Jessica Steinis not a conventional single-girl rom-com. Woody Allen taught us that singletons are neurotic, Sex & the City showed us their sass, Bridget Jones brought out their vulnerable side, and together they wrote the textbook of movie singledom. While Kissing Jessica Stein is clearly in on these conventions, its heroine takes an entirely different path to spice up her personal life. Impulsively answering a personal ad from another woman, Jessica Stein embarks on a tentative relationship with gallery owner Helen. But the couple have crossed purposes--Helen being more overtly sexual--leading Jessica to decide whether her ersatz sexual identity is the real thing, or if it's the companionship she's after.

Wordy and witty, it's easy to spot the film's stage origins, but also easy to attribute this level of intelligence and humour to the two charming leading ladies, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. Similarly, while Jessica is almost certainly not gay, the on-screen spark between the two women is enough to justify their relationship. Kissing Jessica Stein asserts that sexual experimentation needn't lead to a massive personal revelation, nor pigeonholing oneself. At the film's heart is peoples' need to find intimacy, a sensitive subject that's treated with humour and gentle irony. This is one date that'll leave you smiling.

On the DVD: Kissing Jessica Stein has two commentaries offering two entirely different perspectives. Director Charles Herman-Wurmfield and cinematographer Lawrence Sher provide an interesting if a little perfunctory look at how this low-budget feature was put together with the help of friends appearing as extras and loaning their apartments. Meanwhile producer/screenwriter/costars Westfeldt and Juergensen are chatty and light-hearted and clearly still excited at their film, a feeling that also pervades their documentary. Deleted scenes and outtakes come with or without commentary, and a trailer rounds off the package. --Laura Bushell

Special Features
Feature Commentary by director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

Feature Commentary by cinematographer Lawrence Sher

Feature Commentary by Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt

10 deleted scenes

Featurette

Soundtrack Album Promo

Synopsis
Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a lovely, young, conservative Jewish girl with the perfect loft situated on New York City's Upper West Side, a fun job working for a hip newspaper, and beautiful clothes. The only thing she doesn't have is the ideal boyfriend. Not that she doesn't have tons of dates--from geeky nerds to suave sexy types, Jessica is sought after by throngs of men. She just doesn't like any of the guys that like her. When her coworker, Joan (Jackie Hoffman), reads her an ad from the personals of the Village Voice, Jessica knows she's interested. Even when she realizes that the ad is in the "women seeking women" section, she figures it's worth a try. A funny, girly, prissy, very lipstick lesbian relationship ensues with Chelsea gallery owner Helen (Heather Juergensen). When the girls aren't making out, they share makeup secrets and raid each other's closets. However, Helen's daring nymphomaniac side clashes with Jessica's conservative straight side, and the couple is forced to face some real challenges, one of which is Jessica's hilarious Scarsdale-based matchmaker mother (Tovah Feldshuh). A light, laugh-a-minute romantic comedy, KISSING JESSICA STEIN is a good fit for fans of sitcoms like Ally McBeal, Sex in the City, and Will and Grace.

Customer Reviews

When it comes to love, Jessica just can't think straight...
Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) is a nice, young Jewish girl who cannot find herself a man. Based on the montage of some of the worst (and funniest) first dates in history, a reasonable course of action would be for Jessica to just stop looking. However, as Woody Allen observed so long ago the heart is a resilient little muscle, so Jessica answers a "women seeking women" ad placed by Helen Cooper (Heather Juergensen), who is bisexual. But since Helen is straight this would actually give them something in common to talk about, namely men, except that Helen has a lot more success with men, at least in terms of sex.

As you watch "Kissing Jessica Stein" it becomes clear that both women are looking for love rather than sex, which is perfect because this film is not about sex, and those who are looking for really hot lesbian sex scenes should just go rent "Mulholland Drive." The question here is not just whether the girl will get the girl, but what they are going to do when that finally happens. Then there is Josh Myers (Scott Cohen), Jessica's college boy friend, who now speaks of her with the same sort of practiced cynicism he reserves for the rest of the world. She disregards his jabs, and her disdain eventually inspires him to reconsider Jessica. However, we do not think as highly of Josh as he does himself, and there is something intrinsically sweet about the relationship between Jessica and Helen. Besides, the biggest obstacle to their happiness is not Josh, but Jessica herself, which remains both the character's curse and her charm.

Helen is not sure what to expect when Jessica shows up, but someone who is not only straight but who also brings a bunch of manuals and handbooks about lesbians would not have been a high expectation. Getting physical proves difficult because they are so many places where Jessica does not want to be touched, but there is an undeniable something between the two young women that serves as the basis for a relationship, with or without benefits. Once Helen becomes aware that Jessica loves her, she suddenly shows a patience that we would not have expected from her. Yet Helen is even more uncomfortable with the idea of her family and friends knowing about their relationship than she is with actual physical intimacy, and there is no doubt that things will come to a head between them.

Westfeldt and Juergensen first created and played the characters of Jessica and Helen for their stage play "Lipschtick," which certainly explains why they are both so totally comfortable in their roles. As writers they have created a script that is smart and witty, and one of the biggest surprises is that they do not give the film's best moment to themselves but to Tovah Feldshuh as Judy Stein, Jessica's mother. I have been a fan of Feldshuh's ever since she played Katharine Hepburn in "The Amazing Howard Hughes" and Helena Slomova in "Holocaust." Catching her as Danielle Melnick on "Law and Order" has always been a treat as well, so it was nice to see she was in this movie. But I was still blown away by her mother-daughter talk with Jessica, and the exquisitely powerful delivery of a single line. This is one of those memorable jewels of a moment in a movie where you know you will never forget it and just thinking about it invokes its power.

The DVD of "Kissing Jessica Stein" has two commentary tracks, the first with director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and cinematographer Lawrence Sher, and the second with co-stars and co-writers Westfeldt and Juergensen. It will not surprise you that the latter is both more interesting and more insightful. There are a series of deleted scenes, including some choice outtakes from the bad date montage, and a standard behind the scenes featurette. "Kissing Jessica Stein" is not a great romantic comedy, but it is very good, which makes it stand out in that genre, especially with regards to same sex romantic comedies. Besides, any romance that treats both the heart and the head with equal regard is worth checking out.

Love it
This film has just about everything for me. It is a genuine depiction of two people falling in love. It's witty, intelligent and sensual, and the gorgeous Jennifer Westfeldt is particularly brilliant. Every time I watch it I see more magic unfold between the two actresses. A must see.

A little bit of New York magic
There are very few films that invariably put me in a good mood, but this is definately one. I saw it at the cinema when it came out and was enchanted. And the effect on DVD hasn't changed at all. A genuinely sweet romantic comedy with a bit of intelligence and class and the fact that it's about two women, while a nice twist, doesn't change the fact that this is classic New York neurotic comedy. Highly recommended.