Customer Reviews

Just One Time

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Just One Time" is a very cute movie - even if it tries too hard to please everyone. Unlike a large part of recent gay cinema with downbeat endings, this film plays to the part of the audience that longs for the happy ending. And I freely admit that I am one of those people. My only real problem was that the movie tried so hard to please that it left most of the tension out of the ending. All the characters are fairly likeable, and the acting is fairly good as well (if a tad over the top at times). If you're looking for a cute date movie that doesn't try to be great cinema this is a good choice.

There are times that Lane Janger (writer, director and lead of this film) looks terrific when captured at the right angle, and other times that he looks tired and ragged around the edges. The same could be said for his film. There is potential here, and it shines through occasionally, but unfortunately not consistently.

Despite the fact that the ultimate effect is cute (isn't that a terrible word to describe a film?!) and charming, I found myself scratching my head once or twice about the basic premise of this sometimes enchanting little ditty. I guess Janger is trying to warn us that no fantasy lives up to the reality. OK...an age-old piece of wisdom...no arguments here, BUT he never REALLY lets his two lead characters experience their fantasies. They just seem to get lost and frustrated on the road leading up to it.

Anthony (Janger's character) wants to see his beloved fiancée, Amy (played by a very winning Jennifer Esposito), have sex Just One Time with another woman before they get married and HAVE to put their fantasies to bed. That's where the first question arises: why do married couples have to stop having fantasies? OK, small detail, let's move on...

Amy does not want to grant her beloved Anthony his somewhat cliché, pubescent, masturbatory fantasy, and tries to get around the problem by one-upping him: if he has sex with a man for her, she'll give herself to a woman for him. Now pride and egos start getting in the way of anyone calling the nonsense off. Enter Guillermo Diaz: your ... excuse for a romantic comedy's gay sidekick. Not to say thatMr. Diaz plays his role poorly; he's actually adorable! That said, his role is no more than a convenient plot devise: the sweet, non-threatening, virginal gay neighbor, who enters on cue, but never causes too much discomfort, either for Anthony or the viewer. Same goes for the conveniently lesbian neighbor played by Joelle Carter, who is planted there to give Amy her brush withhomosexuality.

Whereas Amy at least gets a lesbian kiss of free will out of it all, before she throw up her hands and screams, "bring on the bands and ring the wedding bells", Anthony stays annoyingly heterosexual. Oh, he does have a kiss, but it's aggressive and full of anger and frustration. When he wakes up the next morning next to his token gay friend, he's horrified at the idea that something might have transpired. Thank God, his bedmate is able to clear that fright up within 30 seconds!

Actually, a rather insulting bit of tripe, but if we more emotionally self-assured and mature homosexuals are generous enough to forgive heterosexual men their occasional lapses of taste and decorum for the sake of defending their obviously fragile manhood, then you might actually enjoy the 94 minutes that this film has to offer.

Anthony and Amy are about to get married. He's, a macho firefighter, wants to fulfill his fantasy of sharing his lovely lawyer girlfriend with another woman before the nuptials. What?! The tables turn! We are seeing stereotypical "straight" males! Well, wait! She wants him to do the same and sleep with a guy! This is a sitcomish, romantic comedy and is somewhat charming. It pushes some buttons and has a good-looking cast it's just that it could've been a bit better. The issue of homophobia is handled well and I give them credit.

I'd recommend it....

There are so few gay/lesbian movies (positive or otherwise) that when one comes along with good actors, fine production values, nice comic moments, and the seeming potential for mainstream appeal, you just want to cheer. However, this isn't really such a picture so much as a 'straight' romantic comedy supported by outstanding lesbian/gay characters. Unfortunately, the writers couldn't quite lighten up enough to suggest that gay sex just might be fun. Hence, a touch of irritation for what could have been but wasn't.

Lane Janger wrote, directed, and starred in this half comedy/half-baked drama that tries just a little too hard to succeed.

Janger plays Anthony, a cute NYC fireman who, a week before his impending nuptials to Amy (Joelle Carter), gets her to agree to fulfill his fantasy about having a threesome with another woman. She does, but with a turn-the-tables of her own -- she agrees to it only if Anthony does the same with the sweet and puppyish Victor (Guillermo Diaz), who has a crush on Anthony.

Sounds fun, yes? Well... for awhile, at least, it is. Anthony and his fire buds (including the dreamy David Lee Russek) take Victor to a gay bar on their "date", and his buddies end up having a surprisingly great time. In the meantime, Amy is testing the waters with Michelle (Jennifer Esposito), the sexy lesbian across the street. A romping good time so far. Unfortunately, the second half of the film gets weighed down in boring, cliche-ridden emotions... and that takes away from the films' appeal.

The cast is sexy, it delivers some laughs, and handles the issue of homophobia quite nicely... but the film would have been better if it would have played up the light-heartedness, and downplayed the sap.

The DVD features an originally good interactive menu with the standard extras.

I rented this film again on a whim; I didn't love it the first time, but seemed interested in seeing it again. It has a couple good actors/actresses in it: Jennifer Esposito and Guillermo Diaz.

I really liked it this time. I think during the second "viewing," I'd gotten over the sorta silly premise: that the straight man wanted to have a tryst with his fiance and another woman prior to their wedding, and this was a sufficiently big problem for man and woman that they spend the bulk of their time, for the week or so before the wedding, trying to resolve it.

This is not a gay-and-lesbian movie, per se, as the main characters are straight, but there are some important and well-sketched secondary characters that are glb and that contribute to the story in sometimes surprising ways. There are some laughs and some decent moments here.

Basically, this isn't a classic, but it is fun, and is interesting as the folks in this film try to resolve their doubts and issues (and prejudices) with each other and within themselves.

Plus the production values are decent here, and the whole film is put together pretty well. I'd give it a chance.

What sounds like an interesting and entertaining premise on paper turns out to be one long boring exercise in which you will probably find yourself struggling to stay awake rather than laughing. The film does not know whether it wants to be a comedy or drama and in the process, it fails miserably in both aspects. The major problem is that none of the characters seem too believable and the leads are not very interesting, especially the lead actress who is bland beyond belief. No wonder the guy wants her to have sex with someone else! The supporting actors who are playing the gay characters are much more interesting but still that is not enough to recommend it. The dvd features a trailer, gallery of stills and a commentary.

I approached this film with much anticipation. Guy with fantasy of two women and himself gets the tables turned on him. Not only did the comic possibilities seem endless but the premise could offer the opportunity to delve into the delicate subject of fantasies and the lines we manufacture between gay and straight. Alas, this film handles these subjects with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer. The take on these subjects tends to be simplistic and moralistic. Instead of exploring the nature of fantasies and when they are appropriate and when they are not we get this "You are my only fantasy" pabulum. Oh just shoot me and get it over with. Furthermore it fails to fully explore the emotional ramifications to the gay and lesbian characters brought into this heterosexual couple's antics AND fails to adress at all the manipulative game the heterosexual female character retaliates to her fiancee with. In addition the characters are so ridiculously unbelievable that the knee jerk reaction to their comic antics keeps you recoiling in disbelief instead of laughing.

The writer and director also takes the lead role... a recipe for disaster. The story idea is a good one that could possibly lead to comedy, but it hasn't worked too well here.

If you're a fan of Jennifer Esposito, be warned that she has a very minor role in this movie.

This is a film about expectations and fantasies, yet it ends up not fulfilling the viewer's expectations or the participants' fantasies. Basically a film with a lot of talk and no action. It starts off promising, and you think you're getting somewhere, and then you want to start fast-forwarding to the good stuff, because you figure that's what's coming up - but it doesn't. The movie just lies there. The characters go nowhere, though are supposedly more seasoned and mature than when they started off. But the viewer is left feeling they were promised cordon bleu and ended up being served a flat pancake. The romance you wanted never quite happens, and the plot twists are never twisted enough you can't see it coming before the characters do. No surprises, except the film is such a disappointment in the characters' relationships. What is supposed to be cute only ends up being trite. What should be charming, falls flat. A few attractive actors are ill-used. This really needed to be a more exploitive story-line.