Relax... It's Just Sex

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.

Shook me up and I'm not very clear as to why. Having only been 'out' for a few months, some of what I felt I'm sure was due to inexperience. To me, the story of a playwright who lives and breathes in 'Dating Hell' is something everyone gay or straight can relate to. His anger at the 'gay bashers' and his general confusion really had an effect on me. Kind of like taking 'Okay so now you're a Homo 101' and being faced with a lot of issues from across the board.

I truly believed the storyline and the actors were so real to me. The HIV issue with Javi was well done and Buzz made his points regarding alternative opinion convincingly. The lesbian turned straight, Robin and Serina and their triangle against the backdrop of the 'rape' (I won't say more) while the main arc of the story is the straight woman who wants a baby so bad -- all of this demanded me to examine and comment on 'our human condition'.

The film jams alot of perspective into 96 minutes.

See it! I enjoyed it. I cried. And laughed alot but never has a movie made me feel more alone than this one.

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

Maybe I'm a bit presumptuous in marking this one as a gay film, but since the majority of the characters is in fact gay I choose to do so anyway and I really do not mean anything more than: this is a film mainly about gay people! Now the beginning of the film really is how I imagined how the whole film would be, giving the audience a somewhat comedic look on sex and human nature. Gradually I found out that this was a different sort of film though and I must say that I really was amazed by how well the film turned from comedy, to seriousness, to drama. There are not too many films out there that are able to get from a really funny scene like the intro to such a dramatic last scene, without something seeming odd or misplaced, yet this film did. I mean I really felt as if I was changing alongside the characters on the screen and in the end I was amazed at what I'd seen. There was comedy, there was drama, there were thrills and everything was so realistic that you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by it - except for the conservative maybe ;-)!

7,25 out of 10

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.