Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore (1996) User Reviews

Punk-rock coming-of-age story. Great.

[Will-84 · 8/10 · 21 April 1999]

A sex-positive feminist punk-rock coming-of-age story. Way lo-fi and very charming. The performances are uneven at times but the script is really funny and rings very true. It's the most unsentimental and realistic portrayal of sexual awakening that I've ever seen. Like a low-budget "Slums of Beverly Hills," only far better.

fantastically accurate representation of the subject matter

[rrrose · 1 February 1999]

I really enjoyed this film. I felt that _Mary Jane_ perfectly portrayed issues about sexuality. I liked the juxtapositions of real life scenes of sex with discussion and portrayal of 'movie sex scenes.' I thought that the plot line was really good, but that it was occasionally difficult to watch because of the rough way that the film was shot. Many of the scenes were really dark. then again, it was done on the cheap, and an admirable job was done all in all.

Its just plain bad

[Slacker-12 · 3/10 · 29 March 1999]

Mary Jane is one of those low budget movies that we are all supposed to love because it's a low budget movie, but that just doesn't fly. This is a film with almost no redeeming qualities. The camera work is bad, the lighting is bad, and most of the actors couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. It even lacks the one thing that sets most indie films apart and costs nothing, a good script. I have no doubts as to why this film is having a hard time getting distributed, and it has nothing to do with the film's controversial content. The fact of the matter is this movie is just plain bad.

(Damaged) hearts on a sleeve

[Sillyhuron · 27 April 2019]

OK, it's got crude lighting, repellent characters, so-so acting... but it's real. It deals with real issues that real people face & you can relate to. A pleasant surprise. It's just too bad we never got to see what Ms. Jacobson could have done had she lived. Stick with this one & prepare to feel... I dunno... Elevated? Good? Human?

More persuasive than not...

[philosopherjack · 16 June 2019]

One's reaction to Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore is inevitably conditioned by the knowledge that it was the only feature completed by Sarah Jacobson, who died a few years later of cancer at the age of just 32. I don't think it's only in hindsight that the film carries a sense of looming darkness - actually it's explicit in the pervasive use of black backgrounds, often giving events a rather disembodied feel. It makes for peculiar viewing, given that in summary the film might sound well within a tradition of brightly raunchy sex comedies - Mary Jane unsatisfactorily loses her virginity (in a cemetery yet), triggering a heightened interest in her own sexuality and that of her circle of colleagues at the movie theatre where she works (the programming for which appears to be carried out in some underwhelming parallel universe), most of whom are older and worldlier than she is (much is made of her origin in the suburbs). The movie has a punk-infused feel, often feeling on the verge of tipping over into something more radically unbound (the acknowledgement in the end credits of "everyone who ever bought me a beer" is a nice touch), but remains primarily in investigative mode, accumulating something of a dossier of mixed-bag "first time" stories and gradually expanding its field of concern and awareness to encompass bisexuality, unplanned pregnancy, sudden tragedy, and more, ending (rather abruptly) on a note of self-determination and moral victory. Those closing credits roll over an extended rant into the camera by a disgruntled theatre patron, basically a verbal assault on just about everything, as if to emphasize the movie as an act of resistance. It's more persuasive than not: it would be pointless to oversell the film's impact, but when you reflect on the great careers that followed from comparably (or more) modest beginnings, the sense of loss is severe.

Important! Sexy! Real!

[elle_802001 · 10/10 · 9 June 2003]

I thought this movie was really bold. Yeah, this was a first feature for the film maker. Hopefully we'll see more projects from her in the future. This movie was really important to me. It rang very true. If I saw this movie in my preteens I would have been *WAY* more informed about sex. The film makes it okay for a chic to be in control of her sex life. How many films have shown a girl how to get off-- and not from or for a man's perspective? Don't get me wrong. The sex scenes

were not only only hot but they were awkward, very true to life. Very much like a first time. I loved this movie. My friends and I cheered at the end.

I would rather watch a 1950's educational video on venereal disease

[Ed-Shullivan · 1/10 · 10 May 2019]

Painful to watch. Mary Jane's first sexual experience is not the romantic and sexual pleasing experience she was hoping for. Her first clue should have been when her new found stud and loser lover took her to the local graveyard and first spread out his blanket before spreading Mary Jane's legs and doing the pump, pump, pump, grunt, grunt, grunt.

So Mary Jane tells her louse of a lover to get off her and drop her off at her art nouveau theater where she immediately commenced telling everyone and anyone of her losing her virginity and asking them about their own sexual experiences.

My take on this film was it is boring and will only lead to snoring. Snooze fest and amateurish.

Rates 1 out of 10 and that's far too generous.

Honest

[tr-83495 · 9/10 · 28 April 2019]

Finally, an honest portrayal of a slice of life. Something that won't ever come out of Hollywood.

This "Trojan Horse" Film Project . . .

[oscaralbert · 4/10 · 8 December 2018]

. . . obviously was produced with the hope that it could be sold to a TV channel such as Hallmark or Lifetime, as an instrument of Aversion Therapy. Whether viewers are into straight sex, gay sex, music, drinking, or "art house flicks," it's highly unlikely that anyone who manages to stay awake for every excruciating minute of MARY JANE'S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE will be able to get up for ANY of these All-American pastimes ever again. If you remember the film collage to which the hero of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is subjected (by virtue of having his eyes taped open by The Authorities), you'll get an inkling of how manipulative and insidious NOT A VIRGIN actually is. As a propaganda piece for the Shaker Philosophy (that is, no more sex EVER; let Humanity die away), NOT A VIRGIN takes the Blue Ribbon. However, for anyone harboring the notion that they might want to ENJOY anything in the future--or simply have some fun--it's best to just say "NO!!" to NOT A VIRGIN.

Unbearable, juvenile.

[Bubba-57 · 1/10 · 18 June 1999]

I have to agree with the NY & LA critical press on this film, "a complete waste of film." Poorly written, terribly shot, the characters engage in juvenile dialogue in a story meant for morons. Actors were horribly directed as they labored thru a sophomoric attempt at filmmaking. Belly lint is more interesting.

Ehhh...mixed review

[leannawadlow · 8/10 · 27 April 2019]

While I agree the screenwriting isn't the greatest, for the period in which it was released, it has very progressive views. Very open-minded for the mid 90's, and sadly, even today. It showed same sex relationships, single parenthood, female sexuality, sexual harassment and more without judgment or stereotypical characters in a time where that was taboo and unthinkable.

A inferior feminist indie coming of age film

[trums-35772 · 3/10 · 17 May 2022]

Sarah Jacobsen seems to be revered in feminist punk circles. It's completely undeserved adulation if this and I Was A Teenage Serial Killer are any indication. While she does capture some natural performances from the amateurs she casts, the film lacks any narrative or visual energy despite being made for a budget almost twice that of the pre-Miramax Clerks, a film that shares a number of themes. The soundtrack also can't bring anything to this piece that feels like a subpar student film. It's at least watchably bad.