Fed up with her fruitless search
for "Mr. Right" and tired of blind dates from hell, attractive
journalist Jessica Stein (Jennifer Westfeldt) whimsically
responds to a classified ad -- from Helen (Heather Juergensen)!
Making and breaking new rules of dating as they go, the two
women muddle through an earnest but hilarious courtship that
blurs the lines between friendship and romantic love.
KISSING
JESSICA STEIN
included a moderate level of funny specks, but quite a few of
the gags were tedious. I thought the film was useless. Perhaps
the best way to describe KISSING JESSICA STEIN is “slow
on the uptake”, which is perhaps the greatest problem I can
imagine for this sort of outrageous gay comedy. I thought the
cast stretched to try to sell the material - the cause seems
thin and uninteresting for the most part. The movie never
catches fire and it remains a flat and mind-numbing film.
The
Video
KISSING
JESSICA STEIN
appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this
single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced
for 16X9 televisions.
Fox has done
an exceptional job with the films presentation - the picture
looked quite good. Sharpness appeared solid. The film came
across nicely crisp and well defined. Jagged edges caused no
concerns, and I detected no signs of edge enhancement. Some
light grain showed up at times, but otherwise, the image was
clean.
Colors looked
natural. The film featured a rich palette, and the DVD
replicated those tones well. Black levels seemed deep and dense,
while shadow detail often looked clear. KISSING JESSICA STEIN
sustained an engaging visual presentation.
The
Audio
KISSING
JESSICA STEIN
contains a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack mix. The film lacked
sonic ambition but this is typical for this type of film. The
soundfield featured a definite emphasis on the forward channels.
Music displayed good stereo imaging, while rear speaker usage
largely stayed with equable reinforcement of the music and
effects.
Audio quality
seemed exact. Dialogue was clear and natural. Effects remained a
lesser element of the mix, but they always came across clean and
flawless, without distortion. Music presented the strongest
aspects of the track. The songs always were nicely bright and
vivid, and they displayed good low-end response as well. Bass
seemed reasonably deep and tight. On the whole, the DD 5.1
complemented the film appropriately.
The
Extras
- Audio Commentary by Director
Charles Herman-Wurmfield and Cinematographer
Lawrence Sher
- Audio Commentary by Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
- Outtakes and Original Ending
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
Overall, a nice/decent set of
features.
Overall
Overall,
KISSING JESSICA STEIN lacks the necessary bite to become a
real success - The DVD offered a fairly solid picture and
complimentary sound with a reasonably nice package of extras.
Fans of the film will be generally pleased with this DVD. If you
couldn’t care either way, you may want to consider a rental
first.
