Afternoon Delight

RELEASED IN 2013 and written & directed by Jill Soloway, "Afternoon Delight" chronicles events when a bored stay-at-home mom in Los Angeles (Kathryn Hahn) becomes intrigued by a beautiful 'sex worker' (Juno Temple) at a strip club. Surprisingly, she brings her home to live in the extra room and even enlists her as a nanny, which has repercussions. Josh Radnor plays the husband and Jane Lynch the wife's therapist.

This contains some hard R-rated sex-oriented scenes so I encourage you to pass if you find that unsavory. To be honest, I was only interested in "Afternoon Delight" because of the winsome, stunning Juno. This isn't a quirky comedy, but rather a serious drama with amusing touches. The occasional crudeness and overt raciness tempted me to tune out a few times, but I kept watching in the hope that the film had something good to get across; thankfully, it did (see below for details).

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hours & 38 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-

EXPLANATION (***SPOILER ALERT*** Don't read further if you haven't seen the film):

McKenna (Juno) is a siren, the daughter of a witch. She openly suggests that she's a witch as well. Using her charms, she puts a 'spell' on Rachel (Hahn) at the strip club and so the mesmerized Rachel eventually tracks her down and brings her home. While Rachel sincerely intends on being a positive influence on McKenna and help her get out of the dubious sex business, McKenna intends on luring Rachel into her sleazy lifestyle. McKenna explains to Rachel why she has no qualms about what she does and even justifies it. Rachel is intrigued until she sees McKenna's sordid work up close and rejects it because she discerns that McKenna is unrepentant about her vocation.

Rachel immediately puts the kibosh on McKenna babysitting her friends' girls because she's clearly a bad role model, but the mother has yet to figure out a way to get the prostitute out of the house without making too many waves. That's when the wives go out on the town while the husbands stay home to party with tantalizing McKenna lurking nearby. Needless to say, it's a recipe for disaster and provides a way for McKenna to stick it to Rachel and her 'judgmental' friends.

The negative fallout provokes Jeff (Radnor) to confront Rachel on how she could be so stupid to bring an unabashed whore into their abode. He didn't comprehend Rachel's reasoning: Did she want him to sleep with McKenna? Did SHE want to sleep with her? Jeff failed to grasp that Rachel was under McKenna's "spell" and inadvertently doing her bidding.

Fortunately, Rachel, realizes her error ("waking up" from McKenna's enchantment) and seeks reconciliation with her husband, now fully appreciating her family.

"If you think I can help you I promise you're not taking." Rachel (Hahn) is a stay-at-home mom who is bored with her life. In between her trips to her psychiatrist and helping with her son's preschool fund-raisers she is dealing with a non-existent sex life with her husband and repetitive routines everywhere else. One night, trying to spice things up, her and her husband go to a strip club where she meets McKenna (Temple) who she sees as a project and sets out to change her. This is a perfect example of a movie that is not done justice by its trailer. If you watch it you will expect a raunchy sex comedy. What this is a very personal and sometimes depressing movie about how a women goes to drastic measures to change her life. Kathryn Hahn is one of the funniest women actors today but this really shows that she is more then just a comedic force. The movie does have some funny moments in this but do not expect a laugh out loud comedy. This is a true dark dramedy about what a woman will do when she feels trapped. Overall, this is the definition of the saying "be careful what you wish for." A real surprise that I really liked and recommend. I give this an A-.

This is an example of film I would never claim is great, but is certainly off the usual beaten (to death) path and therefore at is interesting at least.

The story is about a self-absorbed yuppie mother (Katherine Hahn) who tries to spice up her marriage by going to a strip club and then bringing home a lap dancer (Juno Temple) to be her nanny. I can imagine two movies immediately: it could be some late-night cable sexploitation thing where a hot woman discovers her inner stripper and lives happily (and sexily) ever after, OR it could be some half-assed feminist diatribe where two women from different social classes learn to relate to each other as they come to terms with the commodification of women by the patriarchy, yada, yada. Fortunately, this movie is neither. Instead it's kind of satirical black comedy about a not particularly sympathetic female character who in quest of some kind of sexual liberation makes a complete mess of her life, her new "friend's" life, and generally the lives of everyone around her.

It's also nice to find a movie about strippers that strikes a balance between pure exploitation and the kind "female empowerment" claptrap where Hollywood actresses take on "brave" role as strippers and sex workers, but strictly observe their iron-clad "no-nudity clauses" because that would somehow be giving in to "sexism". Both actresses bravely shed both their clothes and their need to ALWAYS maintain audience sympathy. Juno Temple's character is a proud "sex worker" who does what she does, not because she is either "exploited" or "empowered", but simply because it is a valid career choice. She's totally amoral--kind of like a sexy shark. Hahn's character is a self-loathing Jewish feminist who thinks she has less "hang-ups" than everyone around her when she probably has a lot more.

Hahn at times risks being completely unsympathetic, which may explain a lot of the negative reaction to this movie. It's really hard to dislike Juno Temple, but I think the fact that she's such a desirable little cutie who takes her clothes off in every other role sometimes overshadows what a talented actress she is. Yeah, she gets all the "nudie" roles her prudish American peers won't touch, but if you compare this to "Magic, Magic" to "Cracks" to the British "St. Trinian's" comedies she first appeared in, it's evident she has a lot more range and talent than she's given credit for. This movie is not a comedy masterpiece by any means, but it is certainly worth a look.

Making a film is hard, no one disputes that, and I have respect for the filmmaker for making this film. But if this is the best direction of American independent film of 2013 then the answer is simple, cinema is dead. The fact that this film has played almost nowhere in Europe (festival wise) shows the impact it has internationally and the limited view that somewhere like Sundance can have on the current state of cinema. I don't have any ill will towards Ms. Solowayl or her film, but cinema should be there to enlighten, excite, experiment, not play into clichés and formulas (in this case, the indie that really wants to be the next multiplex family train wreck). This film isn't terrible, it's just average, another movie, with some "names," used as a calling card to go on and help Ms. Soloway make more mediocre work. And as the protagonist says in the TV SET, "make the world more mediocre." Hopefully, before her next attempt, she'll actually watch some films (and learn about cinema), think about what she wants to say and try and do something as an artist that is, even mildly, important. And of course "important" is relative, but if this was the last film she could make, would this be the story she would want to tell? Really? If the answer is yes, then not only is cinema dead, but culture as well. In the days of TED talks, Starbucks alternative mix CDs, etc.. this fits in just fine. Something you think is radical, but when you really look at it critically, it's just more suburban POV, that has nothing more to say than, "our life is boring." We know that already. I give her a five, if nothing more, for effort.

Rachel (Kathryn Hahn) is a smart but bored housewife. She has trouble connecting with her son Logan and has stopped having sex with her husband Jeff (Josh Radnor). Following her friend Stephanie (Jessica St. Clair), she takes her husband to a strip club. Jeff buys her a session in the backroom with stripper McKenna (Juno Temple). Later she tracks down McKenna and befriends her. She takes McKenna in when she runs into problems. Then she finds out that McKenna is a prostitute also. Dr. Lenore (Jane Lynch) is her unhelpful psychiatrist. Jennie (Michaela Watkins) is the bossy school mom.

There are a lot of smart funny women in this. Jill Soloway is mostly a TV writer/producer and she has written some pretty smart stuff. She doesn't really have a directorial style. Kathryn Hahn brings a naturally smart lovely vibe. There is a general oddness with the tone. It's light and cute for the first half. It's even wacky and unreal. Then it tries to go to a darker place which it hasn't earn the right to. It definitely doesn't have the realism to be believable. About an hour into the movie, it takes the turn and it feels unreal. It's almost a different movie. Having so many female comedians may actually hurt this. For example, having Jane Lynch just throws the tone to a different place.