April 27, 2002
MarkBernstein.org
 

Kissing Jessica Stein

Ebert gets it exactly right when he says,

The would-be lovers in "Kissing Jessica Stein" are not having sex, exactly, because of Jessica's skittish approach to the subject, but if they did, it would be a leisure activity like going to the movies. If it really meant anything to either one of them--if it meant as much as it does to the mother--the comedy would be more difficult, or in a different key. We can laugh because nothing really counts for anything. That's all right. But if Jessica Stein ever really gets kissed, it'll be another story.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this likable little movie is how easily it leads us through things that recently would have been titanic. It really views sex as a choice: nobody here would think of calling it the love that dare not speak its name because nobody thinks it's a big deal. Jessica Stein, her family, her friends and colleagues -- everyone (except her lover) is Jewish -- the movie is filled with closely observed, nuanced, varied profiles of American Jews. Again, the film treats this as no big deal. We've come a long way from The Little Foxes and Annie Hall.