Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing
Review: A refreshing twist on the romantic comedy, “Kissing Jessica Stein” trades on the promise of exploring the taboo subject of lesbian relationships. But the fact that it is less about homosexuality and more about finding the right mate – regardless of gender – ensures it has wider appeal. Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen are endearing as the would-be lovers, Jessica and Helen, and they’re backed up by a wonderful supporting cast – especially Jackie Hoffman as co-worker Joan, and Tovah Feldshuh as Mrs Stein. But it’s Helen’s gay friends Martin and Sebastian who ultimately steal the show. The script mostly steers clear of cliché and mawkishness, but there is a yuppies-recovering-their-artistic-selves subtext which sometimes screams too loud. However, the resolution of the love story is realistic and, for that reason, the minor faults are easily forgiven.
Rating: 
Summary: I Fell in Love with Jessica Stein
Review: This movie is wonderful, not because it explores the deep and sometimes torturous complexities of lesbianism in a homophobic world or because it deals with deep and severely meaningful coming out stories where families disown and darkness and gloom abound. No. This movie is wonderful because it's about "regular" women who, for all intents and purposes, remind you of all the straight girls you know who are just looking for something that feels right. Jessica and Helen are both attractive and terribly likable (which I don't see as a cinematic flaw, as attractive and likable people do exist), and you find yourself hoping that they make the relationship work because they are just so cute together. The supporting cast is funny (Jessica's mom, her friend from the office, Martin and his lover) and the film, while not terribly deep in a "gotta make a statement about lesbianism" sort of way, does explore the real life emotions of women who are looking for something that just feels right. I think most women can relate to that feeling. If you like light, funny, and sweet romantic comedies with attractive and likable (god forbid) characters, this movie is a must see.
Rating:
Summary: Marinating in delight
Review: Writers Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt, taking their off-Broadway creation to the big silver screen, are the driving force behind this fun film. Their characters are real and realized, deep and complex, insightful and real. Kudos to these strong women for bringing to equally strong women to the screen. The movie is brave in that it doesn't rely on tired cliches to advance the plot. Even the ending avoids a traditional Hollywood happy ending, by giving us a pleasing, eye-opening complex one. It's a movie about relationships, being brave enough to take a risk, and feeling comfortable within yourself to love someone else. The fact that its two women is immaterial, the distinction doesn't matter. It's about living and loving in today's modern, complex world, and who cannot relate to that?
Rating: 
Summary: I didn't want to kiss Jessica Stein....
Review: I wanted to strangle her! Kissing Jessica Stein" is another purported "romantic comedy" set in NYC. Prissy, neurotic Jessica is totally frustrated by her attempts to find the right guy, so she takes a shot at finding the right woman. Through a Village Voice personal ad, she meets the sexually adventuous Helen, a downtown art gallery director. Jessica and Helen bond almost instantly as friends and then they slowly attempt to overcome Jessica's sexual inhibitions. While Jessica's relationship with Helen blossoms, she attempts to keep it hidden from her overbearing mother and from her boss/former boyfriend. Helen eventually demands Jessica either commit to her openly or else. Jessica has to make some hard decisions on who she is and what she really wants. This is one of those ultra-hip NYC stories that are churned out by screenwriters like manufactured goods. Every character is a good looking, Ivy League educated writer/artist. They hang out in hip places and do hip stuff while struggling through the travails of the NYC dating scene. There is nothing really new here. We've seen all this stuff before on "Friends," "Sex in the City," and dozens of independent films. Normally, I would have been just bored to tears with this movie. However, I didn't get bored, but instead found myself being extremely annoyed by the performance of Jennifer Westfeldt as "Jessica." Ms. Westfeldt's performance is a combination of the worst elements of Woody Allen's patented neurotic NYC Jewish character and Lisa Kudrow's "Phoebe" from "Friends." Not only did Ms. Westfeldt use the worst elements of those characters, she then multiplied their annoyingness many times over. Her performance helped make this middling date movie into something unbearable.
Rating: 
Summary: Could be a pilot for a mediocre sitcom
Review: KISSING JESSICA STEIN is one of those films to which my reaction might be best expressed as a shrug and the comment, "Well, the popcorn was tasty." Jennifer Westfeldt plays Jessica, a nice, attractive, inherently heterosexual Jewish girl whose luck finding the right fella is positively dismal, perhaps because of impossibly high standards. Desperation causes her to answer a personal ad in the paper placed by Helen (Heather Juergensen), the bisexual, adventurous and passionate manager of an art gallery. The subsequent closet relationship progresses from unsure trepidation (on Jessica's part) to a full-scale lesbian affair that generates a "guess who's coming to dinner" tension when Jessica brings Helen, a shikse, to meet her family gathered together for her brother's wedding. Of course, Mom (Tovah Feldshuh) has always wanted her daughter to wed a nice (and successful) Jewish boy, and hasn't been shy about matchmaking. Oy! This isn't a bad film by any means. All of the principle characters are attractive and sympathetic. However, except for one poignant heart-to-heart between Jessica and her mother, the emotional depths and pitfalls of a relationship with a same-sex lover are barely plumbed. This is not a deep film in any sense, and Jessica dances across what could be a potential minefield relatively unscathed. It's as if the film's producers didn't know whether to make it a comedy or drama, and by the final scene I wasn't sure why they'd bothered. Perhaps they thought it would raise more eyebrows in Traditional America. And maybe it did. However, here in multi-lifestyle Southern California, the KISSING JESSICA STEIN movie experience was similar to watching the waves roll onto the beach or the palms sway in the ocean breeze - not without its attractions, but certainly not noteworthy.
Rating:
Summary: Jennifer Westfeldt is BEAUTIFUL!
Review: Jennifer, with her Lisa Kudrow"ish" beauty, was great in this movie! My suite mates and I ( a mixture of lesbians and hetero's) had a great time with this picture. Jessica was so cute with her quirks and on going lies! Helen was fantastic, because these were probably some of the main things that made her fall for Jessica. (Who COULDN'T fall for Jessica!) This movie was hilarious from the first take! Watching Jessica and Helen meld their new found discoveries about themselves into their skin was really entertaining. EVERYONE was rooting for Jessica and Helen to hook up. The writing hit everyone on every level, because it was not a lesbian or straight thing. It was about us being women trying to find that person who stimulates us mentally and physically. We all agreed that the question to be answered was, "Is sex the the innermost part of a true loving relationship; or is it a small component of a huge package? What are we willing to sacrifice so we can have the person who "get's" us? " Looking at the ending in a non-bias way, it was good because this was not the type of relationship Helen was looking for. In hind sight the two women would be much better as friends. Now being TOTALLY biased, I wanted the women to stay together because, Jessica is much to beautiful to be straight! This could have been a schmaltzy "Girl finds her princess and lives happily ever after in rainbow heaven ending" I could really dig! This movie has true brain power! This is an intellectual comedy that is scarce in cinema today. It displayed 2 women being sexy, smart, funny AND beautiful. It is a definate must see!
Rating:
Summary: put on a happy face
Review: rumor has it that hollywood wouldn't make this film unless lisa kudrow and/ or someone like courtney cox would agree to play the lead. while jennifer westfeldt does remind me somewhat of lisa kudrow from time to time, i'm happy to say jessica stein does an exceptional job of proving that an independent film can certainly be as charming and funny as anything hollywood is likely to put out and heather westfeldt is certainly fantastic in this particular role. plus, the mere fact that well-known actresses from the friends sitcom didn't ruin this film makes it all the more appealing, right? while kissing jessica stein is certainly not breaking any new ground here nor revealing anything we haven't heard or seen before, we all can definately appreciate something fun and cute in a stylish but subtle way. thus, we have the first lesbian film made for the whole family. well, maybe not every family. however, anyone with a open mind will be entertained and leave this film with a smile on their face. from the opening of the film with blossom dearie's song put on a happy face to the very end, you will find yourself smiling and even giggling more often than not. this film couldn't be more necessary around this time of year and i had immense fun watching this one with friends and family. jessica stein reminds us all that we should definately focus on what we want most in this life and to give full consideration to the many options that life can sometimes offer. life's hard, so laugh a little and enjoy. be sure to check the deleted scenes or outtakes here before ejecting the disc from your player. some of my favorite outtakes include the scenes with jessica's grandmother. surprisingly, woody allen has not used her in any of his films in case you were wondering.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying Woody Allenesque Clone
Review: After watching this film I wondered why I was not on Prozac. Most of the characters in the film about a New York writer looking for Mr. Right, and finds Mrs. Partly-Right instead, drove me crazy with their Woody Allen-esque attempts to be intellectually funny. The tedious whining and self-deprecation that only worked for Woody 20 plus years ago should be left solely to Mr Allen so that when I am in the mood for this genre, I can rent 'Annie Hall' or 'Manhattan' with full knowledge that my teeth will be set on edge and that I will think of New York of the 70s, shake my head and laugh.
Not so with this film. "Sex and the City's" portrayal of New York singles and their venue while sometimes cloyingly simplistic and blatantly outrageous leaves this little story choking on its dust and accomplishes this in just a half hour. What is so titillating about alternate lifestyles, anyway? I had absolutely no empathy at all for 30 something Jessica who seems to have no clue as to what or whom floats her boat but is condescending enough to mentally correct anyone who doesn't share her penchant for literary quotes and word usage. Not funny and not entertaining. Just boring.
Rating:
Summary: Really, really liked it!!!
Review: My lesbian friends and I rented this movie, and it was great cos none of us had seen it. We had heard some things about the film, most of it along the lines of it was geared more towards straights. I can certainly see why some people would think that, but I'll have to tell you, my friends and I were really surprised by how much we liked it. We laughed and we cried (and some of us wished our mothers were like Jessica's) and we just had an out and out ball. We did throw popcorn at the screen at the ending (all of us agreed-who wouldn't want to rip Helen's clothes off every time she's near!!!), but for a good time, see it!!!
Rating:
Summary: "Manhattan" brought up-to-date
Review: "Kissing Jessica Stein" is an instant classic. Like Woody Allen's "Manhattan," it documents the lives of a cluster of friends and family in present-day New York. Only the present day is that of 2000, not 1979, and things have changed, although not as much as one might think. Nearly all of the performances are spot-on. Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen show their impressive stage-honed chops in several long scenes which require great skill. Scott Cohen is impressive as Josh, the character who unexpectedly undergoes the most profound change in the film. Jackie Hoffman, as Joan, is equally impressive and funny, and Tovah Feldsuh is simply perfect as Judy, Jessica Stein's mother. The principal reason these superb actors deliver great performances is the film's intellectual core, which far surpasses that of most dreck released these days. There are actually real ideas in there -- about the good life, loneliness versus independence, happiness versus our concern for others' estimation -- Rilke is featured for God's sake! This is exciting stuff. And it's all leavened with great humor, which underscores the actors' proficiency -- comedy is truly more diffcult than drama. The film looks good, too. While Lawrence Sher's cinematography is perhaps not quite at Gordon Willis' level (admittedly, Sher labors under the disadvantage of having to work in color), the film successfully captures the feel of New York. A big part of this is accuracy: I noted only one miscue in the film's use of locations. (Can you spot it? Hint: that's not below 14th Street.) "KJS" also makes clever use of music. Some might think this unimportant, but when a comedy gets several meaningful laughs from the way it deploys songs, it shows that the production is firing on all cylinders.
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