Canadian actor Cameron Bright (C) poses on the red carpet with British actors Charlie Bewley (L) and Jamie Campbell Bower (R) as they arrive at the screening of the film 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' by Us movie director Chris Weitz, presented out of competition at the 4th Rome International Film Festival, Italy, on 22 October 2009. Epa/Claudio Onorati Us actress Randi Ingerman poses on the red carpet as she arrives at the screening of the film 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' by Us movie director Chris Weitz, presented out of competition at the 4th Rome International Film Festival, Italy, on 22 October 2009. Epa/Claudio Onorati Us actress Randi Ingerman poses on the red carpet as she arrives...
- 10/22/2009
- by James Wray
- Monsters and Critics
Part documentary, part sappy ensemble romance, "Let's Talk About Sex" is an initially lively but ultimately awkward attempt to get inside the minds of young women on the subjects of sex and relationships.
Written and directed by lead actress Troy Beyer (a performer in "The Gingerbread Man" and screenwriter of "B.A.P.S".), the Fine Line release celebrates female sexuality in image and words, but it has no appeal beyond providing raw data for college-age daters and lonely guys who have to go to movies to learn what the opposite sex is all about.
Make no mistake: Penetration is one thing, but love is the whole enchilada. Still, the film starts out friskily enough, with would-be TV talk show host Jazz (Beyer) and her roommates Lena (Randi Ingerman) and Michelle (Paget Brewster) interviewing University of Miami coeds and beachgoers about their likes and dislikes in lovers and lovemaking.
While the gal-on-the-street revelations range from the joys of penises to the pleasures of foreplay to the pain of rejection to the promised lands of trust and faithfulness, "Let's Talk" is a victim of shoddy, generic dramatics when focusing on Jazz and her girlfriends. None of the characters is very believable -- rather, they are emblematic of types with specific attitudes toward the subject.
A Latina with a pot-smoking habit, Lena doesn't know how to say no to a good shagging, but she's hurt every time a guy loves her and leaves her. A cool, aggressive lover of younger guys, Michelle is a user and proud of it, but deep down she knows it's not the most satisfying way to go through life. Jazz broke off her engagement to a perfectly nice man (Joseph C. Phillips) because of crippling fears of her own inadequacy.
The convention of having Jazz make a demo tape on deadline is the excuse for many girl-power gatherings and some lewd inserts of screwing couples, including participants like one Rachel Rockets displaying her enormous assets. The film spends little time with the many downsides of sexual encounters -- from humorous to deadly serious -- and might send the wrong message to unrepentant males swamped in media-generated images and fantasies of horny, willing women.
When the intrepid trio hits a major roadblock in finishing the demo and emotions swing toward frustration and despair, Beyer so overplays the moment that one questions the whole point of the project. The insertion of a lesbian couple (Michaline Babich and Tina Nguyen) with the usual trust and honesty problems leads to tiresome plot complications, while the multiple happy endings are as hoary as any prefeminist romancer riddled with cliches.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX
Fine Line Features
A Sphinx/Island Digital Media production
Screenwriter-director: Troy Beyer
Producer: Deborah Ridpath
Executive producer: Susan Ainsworth
Director of photography: Kelly Evans
Production designer: Joe Warson
Editor: Bill Henry
Costume designer: Timothy Biel
Music: Michael Carpenter
Casting: Mary Jo Slater, Ellen Jacoby
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jazz: Troy Beyer
Michelle: Paget Brewster
Lena: Randi Ingerman
Michael: Joseph C. Phillips
Morgan: Michaline Babich
Drew: Tina Nguyen
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Written and directed by lead actress Troy Beyer (a performer in "The Gingerbread Man" and screenwriter of "B.A.P.S".), the Fine Line release celebrates female sexuality in image and words, but it has no appeal beyond providing raw data for college-age daters and lonely guys who have to go to movies to learn what the opposite sex is all about.
Make no mistake: Penetration is one thing, but love is the whole enchilada. Still, the film starts out friskily enough, with would-be TV talk show host Jazz (Beyer) and her roommates Lena (Randi Ingerman) and Michelle (Paget Brewster) interviewing University of Miami coeds and beachgoers about their likes and dislikes in lovers and lovemaking.
While the gal-on-the-street revelations range from the joys of penises to the pleasures of foreplay to the pain of rejection to the promised lands of trust and faithfulness, "Let's Talk" is a victim of shoddy, generic dramatics when focusing on Jazz and her girlfriends. None of the characters is very believable -- rather, they are emblematic of types with specific attitudes toward the subject.
A Latina with a pot-smoking habit, Lena doesn't know how to say no to a good shagging, but she's hurt every time a guy loves her and leaves her. A cool, aggressive lover of younger guys, Michelle is a user and proud of it, but deep down she knows it's not the most satisfying way to go through life. Jazz broke off her engagement to a perfectly nice man (Joseph C. Phillips) because of crippling fears of her own inadequacy.
The convention of having Jazz make a demo tape on deadline is the excuse for many girl-power gatherings and some lewd inserts of screwing couples, including participants like one Rachel Rockets displaying her enormous assets. The film spends little time with the many downsides of sexual encounters -- from humorous to deadly serious -- and might send the wrong message to unrepentant males swamped in media-generated images and fantasies of horny, willing women.
When the intrepid trio hits a major roadblock in finishing the demo and emotions swing toward frustration and despair, Beyer so overplays the moment that one questions the whole point of the project. The insertion of a lesbian couple (Michaline Babich and Tina Nguyen) with the usual trust and honesty problems leads to tiresome plot complications, while the multiple happy endings are as hoary as any prefeminist romancer riddled with cliches.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX
Fine Line Features
A Sphinx/Island Digital Media production
Screenwriter-director: Troy Beyer
Producer: Deborah Ridpath
Executive producer: Susan Ainsworth
Director of photography: Kelly Evans
Production designer: Joe Warson
Editor: Bill Henry
Costume designer: Timothy Biel
Music: Michael Carpenter
Casting: Mary Jo Slater, Ellen Jacoby
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jazz: Troy Beyer
Michelle: Paget Brewster
Lena: Randi Ingerman
Michael: Joseph C. Phillips
Morgan: Michaline Babich
Drew: Tina Nguyen
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 9/14/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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