Relax... It's Just Sex

This was a very fun and heartfelt film. There is a better energy when watching this in a theatre with others. I noticed that it lost some of its energy when watching at home on video.

The characters are endearing and you will find yourself drawn to all of them. This is well written and acted. A crafty and adept mixture of humor and heartfelt drama. There are many films that get a gay following, but this film outclasses most of the. I strongly recommend this film. It has stayed with me for so long now since I saw it numerous times at an independent theatre in Houston. I keep up with the careers of the actors and director of this film and anxiously await their future work. I think this could work very well as a TV series or sequel. I think it is just hard for me to say goodbye to these characters!

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.

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

This is a fairly decent film with a really lame title. The film's opening is even misleading, starting with some pretty raucous gay sex--so from the outset it appears as if the film is going to be yet another dull explorating of the trials of gay life in the 90s. And there have been a lot of those films lately. Fortunately, director PJ Castellaneta is more wily than he lets on, and allows the film to evolve into something more intricate and at times very touching.

The film manages to balance a cast of widely different characters and maintain a sense of order without devolving into a who's who of politically correct character inclusion. You have the straights, the gays, the lesbians, the bisexuals, blacks, whites, latinos, and the film even manages to present Christianity in positive tones, albeit with a few well placed jabs now and then. The scripts evenly doles out its emotional weight, never straying into farce when it would be the easy thing to do, nor does it list grind into maudlin sentimentality when it would also be the easy thing to do.

The story revolves around the lives of a coterie of friends of various sexual orientations and temperament. "Relax" follows their development with humor and insight, sometimes relying too much on an intrusive voiceover by the main character, Vince. The emotional centerpiece of the film is a gay bashing where the victim suddenly gains the upper hand. This moment threatens to overwhelm the final half of the film because it raises a crucial question that the "Relax" never adequately, answers (nor did I feel it should have answered), which is, In a world where one is oppressed by violence, to what degree is violence--retributive, eye-for-an-eye violence--an appropriate response?

This is just one of a number of issues that the film raises and leaves for your consideration. Perhaps it is just as well, since it seems like to dwell overly long on these issues would overwhelm the rest of the film; indeed, Castellaneta felt it necessary to remove Vince from the main thread of the film, whereas he was hitherto the central character. In his place, Jennifer Tilly takes over, and she takes the film to its conclusion. Tilly usually goes for the quirks or the sex appeal of her film characters, but this time around she plays a woman whose quirks don't overwhelm her personality, merely compliment. She makes the film.

It was also nice to see a gay film that didn't trot out the familiar, banal diatribes against Christianity. Granted, the gay Christian couple does come across as a little hokey at times, they are never portrayed as weird, evil, judgmental, or exclusionary. Indeed, they are a fitting completion to the the microcosmos that revolves around Tilly's maternal presence.

I came to the film with few expectations and came away rather pleased. There are still a few drawn out moments that could have been trimmed, but the overall package of this film was a surprising delight.

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