A Woman, Her Men, and Her Futon

I first saw this movie late one Sunday night when I was in college. I was looking for something to watch and thought it was the standard Cinemax Late Night fare, but it surprised me. It had a decent plot and character development. There is a well-done love triangle between the female writer--Jennifer Ruben, her producer friend--Lance Edwards, and her ex-husband and new boyfriend. The dialogue is above average and it doesn't rely on gratuitous sex scenes as crutch. There are a couple of sex scenes, but they fit the story. It is mostly about tension and attraction. If your looking for an above average movie, rent this one.

Unhappy with her current marriage "Helen" (Jennifer Rubin) has left her husband and has since moved in with her boyfriend "Paul" (Michael Cerveris). However, after a while she discovers that he has become too possessive and decides that she wants to leave him as well. Unfortunately, she doesn't quite know how to break it off with him and as a result she soon finds herself trying to cope with an ex-husband who wants her back and a boyfriend who can't seem to let her go. So, in an effort to gain some space she moves in with another man named "Donald" (Lance Edwards) who offers her a spare room in exchange for her help in writing a movie script. What Helen soon realizes, however, is that Donald wants more than just a platonic friendship and he doesn't give up easily. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, despite the solid performances of both Jennifer Rubin and Lance Edwards, the plot was rather slow and unremarkable. That's not to say that this was a bad film by any means, but it could have used a bit more intensity in some places. And it's for that reason that I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Reviewer: Heather Lund (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

"A WOMAN, HER MEN, AND HER FUTON" is one of the most accomplished films one can find about sexual politics. Although it suffers occasionally from actress Jennifer Rubin's comatose performance, the film honestly and intelligently depicts characters we know. Its style and content are reminiscent of the French film maker Eric Rohmer's, with the same kind of deceptive simplicity and a similar emphasis on the ambiguity of psycho-sexual interaction. Director Sibay is highly skilled when it comes to actors and as a writer his dialogue is often compelling. If the subject matter is your cup of tea I highly recommend it.

I thought this movie had an interesting title, but that was about it. I found it excruciatingly boring and incredibly pretentious. This movie reflects, I think, Hollywood's disdain for the average moviegoer and shows just how out of touch Hollywood's writers and directors are. I lived in LA for many years, and I can truthfully say that I never met characters like those displayed in this movie.

On the positive side, I thought Jennifer Rubin was beautiful, although she played a total jerk and that Grant Show was good.

The title of this film caught my attention one night when I was browsing Netflix. I thought it was a provocative enough title to add to my queue, expecting a cheap exploitative sex movie. Boy, was I surprised! It turned out to be quite a serious film, where the sex is never exploitative but an organic part of the story. The whole narrative is about sexual manipulation and anyone who has ever been in a heterosexual relationship would relate to the characters. And it's all done with elegance and simplicity that is almost European. And most charming of all, there's a story within a story, so while the two main characters who are screenwriters talk about the story they are writing, what they are really talking about is their own relationship. My only comment is that Jennifer Rubin's performance was uneven. At times she played the character like a teenager and it was hard to believe that she was a writer, and at other times she played it like an adult who was experienced enough to be a writer. But that's minor when I think of the overall impact the movie left on me. I guess it affected me because I once knew a girl like that...