2 Girls in Love

This movie is one that I can watch over and over again. It is something fresh and new. The screenwriter/director does a great job of bringing many different

aspects of young lesbian existence. For example, by bringing together people of different races, social economic status, and different family make-ups; it opens one's eyes to different possibilities. It is quite opposite of what is usually thought of when one thinks of a gay or lesbian film. This movie does not stay in a box; it busts the box instead. Every time I see this movie, I am able to pick up on

something that I hadn't seen before. Although this is a movie where you don't really have to think much; I tend to analyze regardles. I found that it is not the what actually happens on the surface that really keeps me coming back for

more. It is the intricate underlying messages that the screenwriter/director is trying to get across that engages me.

I really enjoyed this movie. Back in 1999 I wasn't even allowed to watch movies like this... I thought it was beautiful. I enjoyed both the main characters. I noticed one of the main characters is also a main character on the Showtime show called The L Word. A very beautiful coming-of-age story deals with losing friendships as gaining them and being accepted for who you are. They should make more movies like this today.

This is one of the first lesbian movies I've seen, and already, it's pretty hard to top. I knew Laurel Holloman from her character, Tina, on The L Word. It's refreshing to see Holloman play a butch lesbian. In this film, her quirky, spontaneous and head-strong character attracted me from the start. Randy (that's her name) and Nicole Parker's character, Evie, have great chemistry together. Somehow, their personalities clash, which proves that their love for one another is not superficial. In a way, their relationship is the perfect first love; impulsive, experimental yet passionate. I recommend this to all teenagers.

This is one of those movies that if you catch on cable, you start watching and then are drawn into. I first caught it from the middle while flipping channels and then checked when it would be on again so I could see the whole thing. It is a very different movie. A tomboy named Randy, who lives with a lesbian mother and is taunted by everybody at school, also seems to be failing all her classes. One day a girl (Evie) from her school happens into her mother's gas station. On a whim, Randy decides to see what Evie needs. Apparently there is a problem with her tire. Randy is immediately attracted to Evie, who seems totally lost explaining her tire problem. Evie seems to notice how Randy is looking at her and after she leaves the station, they each start thinking about the other.

Evie is the opposite of Randy. She is very attractive and hangs with the "in" crowd at school. Evie has an egotistical, pushy boyfriend and one day has a fight with him at school. She goes to the girls' room and happens upon Randy in the bathroom. She then pours her guts out to Randy who is totally sympathetic.

Randy then starts telling her family clan that Evie is her girlfriend, though nothing has happened yet. Randy decides to get bold and writes Evie a note that she slips into Evie's locker at school. Evie finds the note and says nothing of it for several days, while thinking constantly about Randy. Evie is battling her feelings for Shawn, worried that her snobbish girlfriends would look down on her if she even associated with Randy.

Evie can take it no longer and goes to the gas station where she first met Randy and strikes up a friendship. The friendship starts to slowly bloom over a period of time with the girls sharing caresses and kisses. When Evie's mother needs to go out of town for a weekend, the girls plan to take their relationship to the next step.

I don't want to give the rest of the movie away but just to say that it is fun with a few laughs thrown in.

The movie shows that just because someone is different, they can have the same feelings and desires as anyone else. This is well worth renting or setting your VCR, if it is again shown on cable.

The ultimate charm of this movie is that though it is a lesbian movie, it truly is about two teenagers from very different backgrounds falling in love. This is the what the movie is actually about and the lesbian aspect of it is actually almost secondary. Think about it ... replace the girl falling in love with girl concept and replace it with some other socially challenging category (perhaps a cross-culture or cross-religion love story), and it would still work. [In fact, ironically, the director/writer eventually married a guy, much to some people's chagrin! lol]

The movie is rough as many an indie film is and the actors are young (this was Nicole Ari Parker's first film) or somewhat amateurish. Still, the basic relationships hold true. The girls and their mom/aunt, the other romances that don't quite work out, and their friends all are believable, though some match up better than others. How Randy and Evie connect through "Leaves of Grass" might be a bit trite, but I believed it -- imagine, a film that respected the power of poetry!

And, I did accept them as a couple. Young love is pretty well portrayed, and in fact, how many films these days really portray it? Not too many really -- the films are often more concerned with stereotypical plot complications than the romance, and even those come far and long inbetween. This alone makes the film a pleasure, though the lesbian aspect supplies an additional layer.

And as to that layer, this is probably one of the superior films of the genre. To compare, for instance, this is better than "Better Than Chocolate." Again, it can very well be a matter of taste (lol). The ending is a bit silly though, but the scene before the final reel (the mom freaking out) is priceless. Still, the ending suggests that this is first love, not necessarily forever. A good thing too.

-j

PS It was suggested that this was eye candy for men or just for lesbians. I beg to differ in both respects. There is a quick love scene and mild kissing, but if men want to leer, there are better films in the genre than one that cares so much about character.