Love & Sex

If you like intelligent, witty character-driven flicks, but aren't feeling up for anything too meaningful, you will probably enjoy this. The actors have great chemistry and the writing is often delightfully fresh.

"I like being depressed. It makes me feel deep and introspective."

Famke Janssen is a joy to behold in this insightful, underrated portrait of an alarmingly cynical woman. 'Love & Sex' takes a refreshingly frank look at the politics of sex between two individuals. Janssen, whom I had only beheld in all her beauty in a few "meh" action flicks, puts mountains of charm and introspection into this performance.

She plays Kate Welles, a jaded women's magazine columnist who finds trouble with her foulmouthed boss for writing an article with step-by-step instructions on oral sex ("When life sucks, so should you!") This pretty much sets the tone for the film, which contains no nudity but some explicit sexual dialogue.

I'm not presenting this as a negative whatsoever. It's almost inspiring, in fact, seeing a romantic comedy (no matter how IFC it is) that is so candid about such matters.

Roger Ebert, the best critic out there, gave the film a negative review, feeling that "In successful screen romance, there needs to be the sense that the partners are happy simply to be there with one another, that there is a physical yearning, and not simply the need to talk fast enough to stay ahead of the one-liners." I would agree, partially. 'Love & Sex' is not perfect, far from it. At times it can seem like a series of one-liners, but would you rather have a train of quick and biting one-liners for dialogue, or a wretched dredge through moronic cheeseball sentimentality? I prefer the former.

Overall, 'Love & Sex' is a shrewd and funny mix of Woody Allen and 'Sex and the City', and I would recommend it to open-minded moviegoers looking a quick and pleasing comedy with satisfying bite.

3/4

If you are looking for a standard hollywood film with the standard hollywood jokes and the standard hollywood ending - Be prepared for a disappointment. If you are willing to put the stereotypical - boring - humour aside and open up for this entertaining, witty, insightful and brilliantly funny story - then this is the film for you.

Shot in only 21 days this is a masterpiece and definitely one of the funniest film's i have ever seen. Famke Janssen and Jon Favreau make a brilliant team and the onscreen chemistry between them makes the film seem ever more realistic.

Some of the jokes are worth repeating and talking about after watching this film - if you haven't seen it yet then go and get it and watch out for the french teacher, peaches and the little singer man.

If you have seen this film and still can't appreciate the brilliantness then maybe you'd have to wonder whether your humour is too spoiled by the overdrawn high budget hollywood stuff. But that's only my opinion.

Valerie Breiman treats the subject of love and sex with almost the perfect balance. It remains funny and light while treading on some pretty heavy issues. I saw it at a film festival and it was a welcome relief from the heaviness of many of the other films shown. This was the first time I had noticed Famke Janssen and I said, "I'll watch out for her because she will surely get a bigger film." Sure enough, she showed up in a good role in X Men. This is a great date film, by the way, if your date is at all open-minded. Despite the "sex" in the title, there isn't much shown. The language is a little over-the-top.

I must admit that I love this kind of films, where we follow the story of ordinary people through their struggle in relationships. It is wonderfully done her, with so many scenes which most of us can identify with, and so human outlook on the whole deal of falling in love and living with someone. Watch it and see if you can relate having been in similar circumstances, and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did. 7/10