Kissing Jessica Stein

Kissing Jessica Stein is a witty and intelligent comedy about love, sex and single life when you are around thirty. The film's screenplay was written by its leading ladies, Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt, who have made a massive breakthrough both as screenwriters and as actresses.

Jessica Stein is an attractive single girl in her late 20s. She is gradually becoming desperate, for all the dates she goes on end in failure. Unlike Jessica, the gallery manager Helen is drowning in relationships, but she is growing tired of them being only about sex. Helen is ready to try something new, so she writes a personal ad aimed at women. Jessica sees it and, somewhat embarrassed, replies, for perhaps she is not meant to be with a man at all, but with a woman.

Helen and Jessica hit it off immediately, but a platonic relationship is one thing, a sexual relationship quite another. Helen is not afraid to experiment, but the prim Jessica really has to overcome herself. The relationship changes both women's lives, but perhaps in a different direction from what they had actually expected.

Kissing Jessica Stein, a kindred spirit of Woody Allen's comedies, is set in the liberal, intellectual milieu of New York, populated by Jews, artists and people who see their therapist several times a week to get their lives in order. You will not be slapping your thighs with laughter, but the film constantly draws a quiet chuckle.