A Perfect Ending

The reviews for this movie seem to come in two flavours: folk gushing over it, calling it beautiful and brilliantly made and artistic and so on, or people dismissing it as a pretentious and hamfisted attempt at an arty movie that falls short of its ambitions.

I just had to come down in the middle. The film is filled with attempts at art-house style directional and cinematic choices that most certainly tread a fine line on taste and quality, and the plot is - I think unapologetically - pure melodrama.

But that said, it does that melodrama really darn well. The music swells, our heroes bite back their tears and tamp down their emotions until the dam bursts, and you're right there with them when it does. Initially neither protagonist is terribly likable, but then, neither woman is who they're supposed to be, and we get to see them open up as the story is told.

Initially I'd perhaps agree that there's a shortage of romantic chemistry between the two female leads, but then one could argue that since their initial encounters are driven by anxiety, how could there be? It just makes the thaw and the bond that does develop (I'm sure that doesn't count as a spoiler in an obviously romantic movie, does it?) all the more satisfying. The layers of their relationship unfurl over time, and that's the way these things happen sometimes.

And as unreasonably beautiful and perfect the 'call girl' character is in this, the fact she shares the same amount of (or less) exposed flesh on camera with a 59 year old woman is not to be dismissed. This matters. Would that more mainstream, less niche movies could be so brave. And good on Barbara Niven for going for it.

Finally, there's not a dud performance in the piece. This is important when what lets so many lesbian movies down is the acting quality and production values. Both are high here, even for the bit players. The weakest actor is probably the inexperienced Jessica Clark as Paris, whose vocal delivery is a tad one note and initially comes across as a little clichéd, but what she lacks in vocal performance she more than makes up in raw charisma, and she gets across the combination of poise and vulnerability the character needs admirably.

Anyway I dunno, I didn't really mean to go on forever here and I don't generally do reviews. I just popped my head round the door here to see what other folk had thought, and seeing the conflicting trends among the reviewers, I felt the need to buck 'em!

There's too much denigration of straight (lol) down the line romantic melodrama, to my mind, particularly for LGBT folks. Our culture at large tends to devalue and dismiss it as frivolous and trashy and while I don't want to get into a rant about patriarchy or toxic masculinity, well... I'm just sayin', if you need this kind of story in your life, THAT IS OKAY, I'm with you, and you might find what you're looking for here.

While I cannot completely follow some enthusiastic reviews here, I have to admit that I am intrigued how this little movie seduces its audience, despite a small budget (175k is really very small), and despite a story that may not go very well for everyone, because it is some kind of 'Denver Clan 2012' ;-)

But, intriguing enough, we follow easily the introduction, where a woman in her fifties, called Rebecca, wealthy, with three grown-up children and a husband nobody can love, tells her friends that she never climaxed and has mostly forgotten everything about sex. And her friends, two lesbians (of course ?) persuade her to try a service that provides - a prostitute who can help her to finally climax (of course again ?). Now, this seems a bigger bit far-fetched, but it is delivered believable enough not to stand up and run away.

After that, when it comes to an appointment, everything goes wrong for Rebecca, although or even because the rented hooker is young and extremely beautiful and also skilled in the art of seduction. Rebecca is afraid of her own boldness and declines any interaction. But, we know it, it is the tentative beginning of a love story, and this love story isn't a common one.

Now many things are going on there and we learn that this is not a movie from Francois Truffaut or R.W. Fassbinder. And it isn't a movie about the troubles of homosexuality for an elderly woman. These aspects are completely and thankfully left out.

Instead, it is a movie about overcoming a common fate of women, about how your life has been passed by and you miss something real important for a sudden. This fate is of course not limited only to wealthy women, but the movie is located in a wealthy social class, and therefore it looks soapy in some of it's family-related side stories. But on the other hand, there is a distinct feeling for real emotional struggle.

Here comes the main actor in, Barbara Niven, who has the courage to play a woman on the edge of a wasted life, to show herself naked, together with a 30 years younger beauty (Niven is born 1953). And she never fails, you will be surprised, not only how good she looks, but how authentic she is.

The beautiful hooker in turn, played by Jessica Clark, places an attitude like Maggie Q in 'Nikita', when it comes to dialog, and that is sometimes too overused. She seems always slightly unreal, like being not really from this world, even while she is suffering from things happened in her past. I wonder if Director Nicole Conn intended that. And I wonder how Jessica Clark is in private.

Cinematically, the movie is solid modern upper B-grade with some nice ideas to break the narrative continuity for watchers who need a bit more than the standard menu. It looks always good and bright, and focuses wisely on every Detail of Barbara Niven's artful play.

While a hardcore lesbian will spit on this movie because it's too beautiful and calm, someone who wants to follow a butterfly eventually starting to use it's wings (as implied at the end), will be fully satisfied. 8 stars out of sheer earned sympathy.

Generally when I go to see films at a festival my expectations are set pretty low. Most are fair to middlin' and many just don't cut the mustard. Occasionally, however, I catch a film that not only captures my mind while I'm watching it but that lives on and continues to unfold in my mind for days after. Such was my experience with A Perfect Ending. For starters, while I first saw the film during the Frameline (LGBT) festival in San Francisco, it became abundantly clear not long into the film that the fact the love story element was between two women was incidental to the bigger picture themes of identity, self-awareness, and the ever-important journey to discover and embrace true passion in life.

At first blush, A Perfect Ending is the story of Rebecca (Barbara Niven) a woman living in a loveless marriage, dissatisfied with her life and holding a deep secret that not even her closest friends know. She reveals this secret and the deep questions that it carries to her friends who then suggest a rather unorthodox path to finding answers - a high priced call girl named Paris (Jessica Clark).

It's a Nicole Conn film, so you know there's a love story. I saw it at an LGBT festival so I knew there was a lesbian angle. What I found with A Perfect Ending was a story that had so much more depth and breadth that I left the theater thinking ... a lot.

Nicole Conn masterfully weaves this complex story, delicately dipping into an array of subplots and parallel story lines. That she weaves a complex story is one thing, that she does so leveraging some unique and rather fascinating storytelling mechanisms makes the film that much more interesting to me.

Beyond the graceful storytelling structure there are the superb performances from a very talented cast.

Several great character turns give wonderful flavor to the story. Cathy DeBuono delivers an amusingly intense performance; Mary Wells' comedic timing and perfectly timed expressions bring laughter at several key moments and then there's the superb Morgan Fairchild whose very appearance on the screen resulted in applause. John Heard delivers a great performance as the detached, boozy husband with a dark secret of his own.

Finally there are the two magnificent lead actresses. Newcomer Jessica Clark, has thus far in her career mostly been a model. You can be sure that this will change - fast. The character of Paris that she delivers has such nuance, such grace, such power and such intensity it's hard to believe that this stunning young woman had never before done a full-length feature film.

Barbara Niven is someone you have, no doubt, seen act before. You have never seen her like this. To watch the evolution of Niven's character of Rebecca is to see a woman become completely dismantled. From her clothing and hairstyle to the way she walks and even holds her facial expressions - at the outset Rebecca is wound so tightly that one might expect she would snap at any time. Instead, we see her soften, unravel and blossom into a magnificent, luminous and powerful woman.

Any woman should see this film and then ask herself - have you found your passion? Are you living a life you feel worth living and if not, why?

Imagine you had a less than perfect sex life (go on, try)… in fact imagine you were living a life that felt completely devoid of passion. Now imagine you had some concerned friends who wanted to find a way to help – and did so by setting you up with a totally gorgeous, sexy, intelligent, young… hooker.

What feelings might it provoke in you? Fear, horror, excitement, anxiety, shame, desire… would it give you a buzz – and would you go through with it? It's an extraordinary and intriguing question.. and it's the central theme in the new movie from writer and Director Nicole Conn. Has that piqued your interest….? It certainly did mine… and I can guarantee when you watch, it's a question that's going to get you all worked up.

Rebecca is a middle aged, wealthy, but utterly repressed and depressed housewife (played outstandingly by actress Barbara Niven), who is dedicated to her coldly bombastic husband (the excellent John Heard) and her three now grown children. And she has a secret. Or maybe more than one. During a frank discussion with two close friends, she reveals something that they are horrified to hear about her sex life – and they are determined to help her resolve. They perceive that Rebecca's dilemma may be as a result of her straight and straightened relationship with her husband, so they decide to engage the personal services of a high class prostitute, reasoning that another female "is so much more familiar with the manual" and will be able to offer her some… release...

Filled with trepidation but at the same time compelled, Rebecca agrees and turns up at the appointed time in a luxury hotel room to meet her… date. And so we are introduced to the delectable and sultry Paris (played superbly by British actress and model Jessica Clark in her first feature) who knocks on the door at the appointed time to meet her new customer. But though Paris would seem to have the looks and charm to melt even the frostiest of "clients", she hasn't reckoned with the more than just tight lipped, Rebecca.

As the two dance around each other, their stories are revealed, told with humour and pathos, with honesty and compassion. A Perfect Ending is multi-layered and addresses significant and pervasive issues that seriously affect the lives of millions of women – it manages to be both hugely entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. And it's HOT. The leads have fantastic chemistry and the sex scenes, which are intimately revealing, require a level of brave vulnerability that most of us could never even consider, but which are an essential element in showcasing the beauty of imperfection, the poignant antithesis of the movie's title.

Aside from the magnificently elegant performances of Niven and Clark, there are also some superb cameo roles, particularly from Morgan Fairchild as the tough and edgily funny Madam – with a peculiar obsession with Barbie dolls (the ones formed in plastic ) that she dresses up to resemble the characters of her "girls". Oh and the older, hardened hooker played with such wonderfully bitter but proud sarcasm by Rebecca Staab, who can't resist biting back when Rebecca rejects her with a judgemental driven tongue lashing… and then there's the funny, funny, funny British actress Mary Wells, who plays one of Rebecca's lesbian friends (we should all have one) with the Hollywood Madam in her contact list.

It's a story of many twists and turns that will surprise you as the plot unfolds – and it so cleverly explores, both metaphorically and in starkly frank big screen physical presence, the issues that so unnecessarily blight our lives and often prevent us from fulfilling our potential and finding the pleasure that all of us deserve. I was privileged to watch the world premier of this movie at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco along with an audience of over 1400 whose appreciation was loudly and enthusiastically expressed throughout the film. If their – and my – reaction is anything to go by, it will make you laugh out loud, it might make you weep – and it will almost certainly make you think about it well after the movie itself has perfectly ended.

You can catch it at a number of festivals across the States, including LA, Philadelphia, Tampa and Atlantic City in the next month, for more details of which, please visit the Soul Kiss Films website or check out their face-book page. You can also check out the Wolfe website and book mark it for news of the DVD release dates.

You really should do so, I couldn't recommend it more highly.

I anxiously awaited this movie's release on DVD as those who had seen it at Sundance gave it such good to great reviews. Unfortunately, however, after having seen it for myself now, I do not share the earlier reviewers' glowing opinions. The premise of the movie is really good and I could tell it could have been a very good movie. I felt it took too many "meetings" before the main character stopped running out and the awkwardness to fade. Both main actresses are attractive and are suited to their characters, but the escort seemed to be trying too hard to be mysterious and alluring. First,her lower voice and slow speaking cadence was sexy and intriguing, but then you notice she speaks that way through the entire movie. It rendered the "sexy" a little "unsexy" and kind of annoying after a while. You don't see enough of the two women together to understand the 'relationship' that supposedly develops between them. I was left feeling like too much of the story must have been left on the editing room floor and was replaced by the film-maker's attempt at artsy and meaningful up-close vignettes of inanimate objects or a characters struggles. I am disappointed in this movie. I had such high hopes.