Relax... It's Just Sex

Witty independent films about groups of young people trying to cope with modern day life are a dime a dozen these days, but when they're this enjoyable you can't begrudge a director for riding a well-worn wave. P.J. Castellaneta has put together a group of very talented actors (Jennifer Tilly being at the top of the list) to play an assortment of thoroughly likeable characters who experience difficult situations but always have each other's friendship to rely on. The story never bogs itself down in preachy monologues or pretentious revelations; it's extremely funny, quick-witted and very touching.

Late one night on a Monday (if you can believe it) there was nothing and I mean nothing on television, until I came to this movie called Relax....It's just sex. I saw a couple of familiar faces and decided to stick around. When you get right down to it. This movie is about everyone. Whether your white, black, latino, from the middle East or China, male, female, gay, straight, lesbian, whatever. This movie is about love, friendship, sex, tears, death, life and everything else that comes in the middle of all that. See this movie. Trust me, at the end you'll go ---- yeah...

The first half of the film is plagued by strange use of music and poor sound quality, but somewhere along the line, as if by magic, the film takes root. The technical weakness improves a great deal, and the characters come to life. By the end of the movie, you want more.

This is a realistic view of problems faced by many people: anti-gay violence, relationships that go awry, disease, and miscarriage. The relationships between the friends in this film are very strong and moving, and in the last half of the movie we see some very powerful and wonderful results of the friendships. Perhaps loveliest of all is a scene between two women, former lovers, who are talking as the NEW lover overhears everything. I won't say what happens, but it is a wonderful and gorgeous scene unlike anything I have seen in any other movie. This scene alone makes the film worth seeing.

See it by all means, but be prepared for some frustration with the first half of the film.

Maybe I'm a bit presumptuous in marking this one as a gay film, but since the majority of the characters is in fact gay I choose to do so anyway and I really do not mean anything more than: this is a film mainly about gay people! Now the beginning of the film really is how I imagined how the whole film would be, giving the audience a somewhat comedic look on sex and human nature. Gradually I found out that this was a different sort of film though and I must say that I really was amazed by how well the film turned from comedy, to seriousness, to drama. There are not too many films out there that are able to get from a really funny scene like the intro to such a dramatic last scene, without something seeming odd or misplaced, yet this film did. I mean I really felt as if I was changing alongside the characters on the screen and in the end I was amazed at what I'd seen. There was comedy, there was drama, there were thrills and everything was so realistic that you'd have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by it - except for the conservative maybe ;-)!

7,25 out of 10

I just came back from a very pleasant stay in L.A. and my gay cousin introduced me to her circle of friends. The group was so similar to the gang in this film that I felt I was taking part in it! It is a good film - no real boring spots. Lots of wit and lots of interesting dialogue. The actors are good and appear comfortable with their parts. One uncomfortable observation - they are all mostly young and attractive so different from us older folk. We *do* age, you know and being over 40 in the gay life is well, like death. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable surprise and I'm glad those gay bashers in the film got the shit beaten out of them. Why can't *that* happen more often??? hhmmmm