Relax... It's Just Sex

Late one night on a Monday (if you can believe it) there was nothing and I mean nothing on television, until I came to this movie called Relax....It's just sex. I saw a couple of familiar faces and decided to stick around. When you get right down to it. This movie is about everyone. Whether your white, black, latino, from the middle East or China, male, female, gay, straight, lesbian, whatever. This movie is about love, friendship, sex, tears, death, life and everything else that comes in the middle of all that. See this movie. Trust me, at the end you'll go ---- yeah...

This could have been a shallow by-the-numbers movie about gay, lesbian and straight friends in LA, but it wasn't. The characters and situations are realistic, all the acting was good and the movie doesn't shy away from showing male-male sex scenes (which is why it's unrated). The movie isn't perfect. It isn't as funny as it could be and some scenes don't play out at all or play out too long. Still, when was the last time we had a movie that dealt honestly and explicitly with gay men without desexing them or turning it into innocuous comedy (like "Jeffrey"). A really good film.

I just came back from a very pleasant stay in L.A. and my gay cousin introduced me to her circle of friends. The group was so similar to the gang in this film that I felt I was taking part in it! It is a good film - no real boring spots. Lots of wit and lots of interesting dialogue. The actors are good and appear comfortable with their parts. One uncomfortable observation - they are all mostly young and attractive so different from us older folk. We *do* age, you know and being over 40 in the gay life is well, like death. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable surprise and I'm glad those gay bashers in the film got the shit beaten out of them. Why can't *that* happen more often??? hhmmmm

The first half of the film is plagued by strange use of music and poor sound quality, but somewhere along the line, as if by magic, the film takes root. The technical weakness improves a great deal, and the characters come to life. By the end of the movie, you want more.

This is a realistic view of problems faced by many people: anti-gay violence, relationships that go awry, disease, and miscarriage. The relationships between the friends in this film are very strong and moving, and in the last half of the movie we see some very powerful and wonderful results of the friendships. Perhaps loveliest of all is a scene between two women, former lovers, who are talking as the NEW lover overhears everything. I won't say what happens, but it is a wonderful and gorgeous scene unlike anything I have seen in any other movie. This scene alone makes the film worth seeing.

See it by all means, but be prepared for some frustration with the first half of the film.

I saw this movie several times in the theater (I have many friends who won't go to the movies unless I drag them) and each time I left the theater exhilarated. It takes the movie a little while to take it's footing but once it got ahold, it was great. The acting is, at first, self conscious but gets better as time goes by. I think the first dinner party scene is where it all comes together. I really appreciated the honest, moving portrayals by Jennifer Tilly and Lori Petty, they both added so much life to the movie. I especially like the scene where Lori Petty overhears the conversation, that got me every time! I cried each time I saw it and so did the rest of the audience. My favorite thing was coming out of it the first time and there were 2 burly leather guys standing at the door, wiping away each others tears. Definitely recommended.