Knots - Liebesbande

(Titled "Sex, Love, & Lies" on network TV.) The story starts with Dave (Scott Cohen) and Greta (Annabeth Gish), somewhat stale in their marriage, moving to a different apartment in New York. Dave thinks that he paid the movers too much, this place isn't that big once all their things are in it, a strong hint of hopelessness. But he is a straight-arrow faithful guy who loves his wife, but monthly sex with Greta has lost its magic. A host of other old and new friends enter the fray to help Dave and Greta figure it all out, in this very offbeat comedy. Many will not enjoy the loose play with conventional morals. SPOILERS FOLLOW. Dave catches the eye of pretty attorney, Lily (model Paulina Porizkova), but introduces her to friend Jake, and when Lily resists Jake's dinner invite, Dave suggests he and Greta go too, and Lily agrees. At dinner, when Greta seems to object that Dave was out with "the boys", Lily suggests a "girls night out." Later, Dave comes home early to find Greta and Lily in bed, nude! Dave is rightly upset and baffled, the three guys get together to figure out what to do, but Dave is surprised to have divorce papers served to him at work. Angrily, he goes to Lily's law office, and after some histrionics kisses her, and they have wild sex on her desk! Loose lips Jake encounters Emily (Tara Reid) at a bar, tells her about his friend Cal (John Stamos) and his wild sex between meetings with his fiancée, who happens to be Emily. Emily shows up at Cal's, finds a woman, decks Cal -- twice. The three women get together to figure things out. Other things develop and, when Dave goes home to get some things, Greta shows up, they talk, the passion returns, they have the best sex ever, Dave thinks things will be OK between them, but in bed Greta says, "I'm a lesbian." They all go on to Cal and Emily's wedding, after Cal promised fidelity and signed a pre-nup that would give Emily 70% if he cheats on her. But Dave knows (photos of Cal and Lily) Cal can't, and speaks up to halt the wedding. Lily calls Jake so he can comfort and leave with Emily. Dave and Greta sit in a pew and talk, "Friends?" "Friends." "Good", says Greta, "because I'm pregnant."

Knots is a funny, sexy and entertaining movie about six thirty-something characters experiencing life and love in NYC. Credit must be given to the co-writer/director, Greg Lombardo, for making this diverse group of actors a believable set of friends and lovers. John Stamos just about steals the movie. This role is clearly the precursor to his new TV series which even borrows the name "Jake" from one of the characters in Knots. Stamos' looks, charm and winning smile are used to great effect. Paulina Porizkova was a wonderful surprise. Having not seen or heard anything about her in a number of years, she is well-cast as the story's sexy catalyst. Scott Cohen and Annabeth Gish are a married couple with a very real relationship that gets played out on a number of levels. Michael Leydon Campbell is sweet as Jake, the underdog. Credit also goes to the director/producers for casting Tara Reid against type. Set primarily in Brooklyn with some action in Manhattan, the homes and offices look realistic and lived in; you feel like you could hang out there and enjoy spending time with these interesting and quirky characters. The movie is well-written; the story is moved along by a couple of unexpected twists and turns, including the ending, and the dialog has some great repartee and one-liners. A very enjoyable and worthwhile 90 minutes. Check it out.

I saw this movie one night on Lifetime television and I found myself actually enjoying it. Scott Cohen is funny and sincere as Dave, a man who finds himself in the middle of a love triangle between his sexually confused wife, Greta (played with honesty Annabeth Gish), and a very sexy "omnisexual" lawyer, Lily (played with wicked sexiness Paulina Porizkova). Meanwhile, Dave's philandering friend Cal (John Stamos) is cheating on his long-time girlfriend, Emily (Tara Reid...yes...she is actually ACTING!). Another friend named Jake (a funny performance by Micheal Leydon Campbell) has his own woes with finding the right girl because she always ends up in bed with Cal until he finds himself falling in love with Emily. I loved how in spite of the script having a few flaws and even having some outrageous moments the film wraps up in a sweet happy ending with Paulina Porizkova leaving the scene with that wickedly sexy smile and a wink. Wonderful performances by the actors and well written script.

"Knots" a predictable sex comedy from director of no note, Greg Lombardo. It is short on both sex and comedy, but is almost worth watching because A) John Stamos is actually good in it. B) You get to see Ric Ocasek's hot, Czech wife naked and C) Tara Reid surprisingly doesn't suck in it. The down side? The sex is totally tame and it's really not very funny. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Scott Cohen (from The Gilmore Girls) and Annabeth Gish (from The West Wing) play are bored married couple and Paulina Porizkova plays a vixen that reaps hell into their lives for no good reason at all, but ultimately we don't really care about any of the characters as the screenplay limps to it's obvious, group hug conclusion. "For No Good Reason At All". That would have been a good tag line for "Knots". You have been warned.

I rented this movie the other night and was thoroughly surprised by how good it was. I'm not a real "indie" sort of guy, but I thought the story was great without being trite or falling into a lot of the traps that sometimes come with a comedy like this. The characters are well drawn and there are some real standout performances, especially from John Stamos, Paulina Porzikova, and the guy who played "Jake" - really funny! The plot covers six main characters and still manages to make perfect sense... all the while being pretty hysterical. Stamos' character has some great lines which I plan on using! All in all, great little movie.