Just One Time

Rating:
Summary: Very cute if very predictable....
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: Very cute if very predictable....
Review: "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.

Rating:
Summary: Charming And Yet Annoying
Review: 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....

Rating:
Summary: Run! Run as far away from this movie as you can.
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but really engaging!
Review: I don't know if this is by the same people who gave us "Kiss Me Guido," but I do know that at least two of the actors in this were in the other as well.

This movie is clever and different. It isn't great and I think it's because it's just not a subject that lends itself to greatness - it's too touchy. But, that said, the movie makes you laugh and makes you think. It is definitely a film to watch and enjoy with friends. The acting is really quite good. The characters are believable and the script is good.

Why isn't it great? I don't know. Is it as good as "Kiss Me Guido"? No. Why? Partially because it lacks Guido's soundtrack and partially because it doesn't have the innate silliness of Guido's premise.

It's really worth watching this film. Check it out!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Just wonderful. And that Dom!! This is a sweet movie that I think anyone would enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat likeable but par for the course...
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Even an elephant could forget this one
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Well-intentioned romantic comedy trips up!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Ah, the Frailty of Manhood!
Review: 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.