A Family Affair

"A Family Affair" is all about Rachel (Lesnick) who runs from a broken relationship in NY to San Diego where she falls for Christine (Shaffer) only to have her ex try to get her back...etc. Lesnick put this little indie together single handedly and it shows. The film is fraught with deficits including hackneyed material, trite dramatic or flip Woodyesque dialogue, stiff delivery, cost cutting everywhere, and Lesnick really belongs behind the lens. In spite of all that, I was marginally engrossed post climax in the drama of the denouement when the flick consolidates itself and finally gets real. Recommended for anyone who's interested in a romantic comedy about a woman who just happens to be gay. (C+)

The writing is not altogether that bad--the jokes definitely have their niche and will be entertaining to its intended audience.

Let's just say that, without looking at any of the credits, I could tell that it was one of those movies where the director had cast herself as the lead role. I was not convinced by Helen Lesniak's performance as a romantic lead. She does well with the sarcasm...and that's about it. The fact that she looked to be the same age as her on-screen mother was distracting, frankly.

And it sounds horrible but the whole time I was thinking, "How did she land a babe like Eric Shaffer?"

Fabulous movie......I was not expecting it to be so funny and interesting at the same time! Everything in it is really exceptionnal, from the actresses, to the script, to the story, to the directing, to the pictures, to the location (san Diego of course)....etc

Two thumbs up, and Congratulations....Continue the great work!

I'm actually in the middle of this movie as I type this review. I had to log on to IMDb to see if I was the only person who found this movie to be completely dreadful. At the moment I'm on a marathon of watching all the LGTBQ movies I can find for free on the internet. This is the first one that I found hard to watch. Christine not only isn't believable in her relationship but she doesn't even make a believable blonde. Rachel is definitely not the 34 she claims to be and she DEFINITELY isn't funny. There's a line between funny cynicism and annoying sarcasm and oh man did she cross it. I did enjoy Rachel's mother, I saw a lot of myself in her, even though I'm probably around 40 years younger then her character.

I guess that's all I have to say except... did that mother just proudly proclaim her status as a WASP? Although you may be proud of all the things that entails, that has never been mistaken as a compliment for anyone. Horrifying.

This movie felt very amateurish, but that's probably what was intended. Michele Green caught my attention from the get-go and was extremely good as the spurned lover. I had no idea it was Abby Perkins from LA Law until I watched disk 2 on the DVD extras. A very good turn for her. By her own admission she feels boxed in as an actress with casting directors not being able to see her beyond Abby-types. Hopefully that will change. Helen Lesniak was decent, and watch-able, but looked much older than 34 and not young enough to be the daughter of Arlene Golonka, but perhaps Arlene is just extremely young looking! I really enjoyed Arlene's performance and that of Barbara Stuart. Good casting there. I also thought Erica Shaffer was good, but truly, I couldn't see much attraction between her and Helen. They didn't seem compatible at all. I wouldn't recommend this film to everyone, but I did enjoy it. 6/10 stars.