Product Details

• Actors: Laura San Giacomo, Paul Rhys, Michael O'Keefe, Cristi Conaway, Fisher Stevens
• Directors: Alan Jacobs
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• DVD Release Date: February 17, 2004
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00013D594
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,643 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Nina Takes a Lover" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Laura San Giacomo, introduced to us in the gangbuster role in sex, lies & videotape (1989), only appeared in a handful of empty independent films or small parts in blockbusters (Julia Roberts' best friend in Pretty Woman) before nabbing the starring role in the TV series Just Shoot Me starting in 1997. Nina Takes a Lover, a trite, cute comedy, finds San Giacomo as a wife who decides she deserves a break today and jumps into a lovable affair with a visiting British photographer (Paul Rhys). To first-time filmmaker Alan Jacobs's credit, he takes a earnest road, but the movie takes itself too seriously. Nina narrates her plight to a journalist (Michael O'Keefe) who notes these things (do we know anybody like this?) and before you can say Red Shoe Diaries she's igniting her love life. The film might have been more successful if it stayed as light as a Sandra Bullock vehicle (While You Were Sleeping opened at the same time) although it showcases San Giacomo's leading-lady appeal and provides an interesting role for the brooding Rhys. There's a lovely score by Todd Boekelheide to boot. --Doug Thomas

Product Description

Laura San Giacomo stars in this sexy comedy about adultery. When Nina's (San Giacomo) husband goes out of town for several weeks on a business trip, Nina hooks up with a photographer. Told from a reporter's point of view, his interviews with Nina and the photographer provide comic insights. Stars Laura San Giacomo, Paul Rhys, Michael O'Keefe, Fisher Stevens and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy, Breezy, Beautiful...Crying Girl?, October 2, 2005

By	Shannon Morgan "shannonlilia" (Clevelandland, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Nina Takes a Lover (Romance Collection) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Feeling this storyline, hearing the rain as if it were outside my window and having my heart race according to the beat of each character's affairs was as lush and satisfying as it gets for me, an avid, observant film lover. Any book, song or movie that makes me cry a good deep from the heart sob is "A-OK" in my book. I LOOOOOVE this movie. It captures the city, the characters and an artsy, cool quirkiness and works it all to delicious advantage. The story is about a married woman, Nina telling the background, circumstances and resultant residues of an affair that shook her married life to a gentle, curious interviewer with time to listen and questions to softly ask toward healing and understanding. Why, how, who and for how long are the questions that subtly beg to be unfolded along the way. The acting is easy and down to earth. You feel like maybe you're watching the characters from across the store, from the booth next door or from the other side of the park. The surprising ending will hit you in the gut if you are a romantic. The realism found in the relationships was what made this one of my top ten of all time favorites. Laura San Giacomo is a nuanced genius in love stories and I wanted what she had by the end of the movie. I can't tell what that is because it'll ruin it for those of you who haven't viewed it yet. For those who have, it is all we could hope for in all it's sordid abandon. I think. (sigh)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I don't get it . . . but my wife does., August 13, 2007

By	arganon (mid-atlantic) - See all my reviews

This is a hard one for me to review. On one hand I like the "surprise" ending because it was a surprise . . . at least to me. (Interestingly enough, my wife surmised the ending as the plot unfolded. Hmmm?) On the other hand it left me kind of flat. "Surprise-ending" movies are usually GREAT because there are so many tired storylines to have to live through. But, once the "surprise" was revealed I kind of felt, not quite cheated, but I didn't get full satisfaction either. It was like, "big whoop", I'm not sure I really care.

The movie has its charm because it feels very intimate; all nice cozy. The acting is pretty good and keeps the viewer interested throughout the piece. But . . . then again there is that "but" for me. It's all OK , but I just didn't get the payoff I felt this movie was leading up too. Maybe it's the "guy-thing" in me that just isn't getting it? I think there's something in there that I must be missing? There are a lot of good things about this picture so on that I rate it 3 stars. But . . .

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, Sexy, and Touching with a Twist Ending I Didn't See in the First Viewing, August 31, 2009

By	maskirovka (Alexandria, Virginia) - See all my reviews

If you read the plot of "Nina Takes a Lover" written up as if in a divorce court filing, you'd yawn and think, "Great, another sordid story about infidelity."

But "Nina Takes a Lover" is a lot more than that grubby story. It's actually a rather touching and affecting --and erotic-- love story between Nina (played by the wonderful Laura San Giacomo) and her unnamed lover (played by Paul Rhys). It also has some humor, a wonderful score, and some strikingly beautiful images and scenes.

<spoilers>

The storyline is simple. Nina is a lonely woman whose husband is always away on business. She suspects but doesn't know for sure that he's cheating on her. We see her in the park innocently flirting with what the movie leads us to think is a handsome stranger, a British (actually Welsh) photographer (Rhys's character). Nina's flirting with this man (only listed in the credits as "photographer") rapidly escalates to what appears to be a full fledged, passionate, and illicit affair. Their relationship hits a crisis when her lover admits to several other affairs. And here we get "the twist." Nina's lover is actually her husband! It seems like they were both just engaged in a bit of romantic role playing.

The story ends beautifully. We last see Nina and her lover and husband dancing in the moonlight on top of her building. I'd like to think that Nina and her husband surmounted their difficulties and lived happily ever after.

That's about it...It's a testament to Laura San Giacomo (who I have always liked a great deal) and Paul Rhys that they really seem to have chemistry and appear to truly care for each other. And that's why I like it so much. I just can't figure out why I didn't realize when I saw it the first time that they were actually married to each other and just playing a game. I guess I might have been too hypnotized by San Giacomo (who I find extremely attractive).