Virtual Sexuality

While the premise of this film has been done, it starts out with enough freshness and humor to keep you watching. Justine's early escapades inside the body of her own "perfect man" are quite humorous and Rupert Penry-Jones as Jake does a great job portraying a man, with the "personality" of a teenage girl, Justine. But past the halfway mark this film loses complete direction. We grow to really like the endearing Jake, but we discover that Justine is also a separate entity to him, (i.e. the machine made a double of Justine as a man, so there are two of them, one male, one female). And then the film follows Justine in her efforts to snag Jake, (as she doesn't know he is really her). The movie tries to make her the central character again, and fails because we really don't care anymore -- she's hardly as interesting. It also takes a detour at the moment when some intriguing and more controversial issues are about to be raised. Jake is being seduced by a girl at school that everyone calls, "hoover",(take a guess why), and after she spends sometime kissing him on the street, we never see her again. It raises an interesting question of sexual preference, i.e. justine inside a man's body being attracted to a woman, but the movie skirts the issue, wanting instead to regress into a high school soap opera. At the close of the film Jake is deleted in a quick wrap-up effort to make this a movie about loving yourself and waiting to lose your virginity to a "nice guy," who may not have the looks, but has the personality. Its hokey sub-plot about the scientists trying to recapture Jake to perform scientific experiments on him only hinders the movie even more, making certain scenes into a slapstick comedy. Its unfortunate that something could start out interesting enough and plummet so quickly. But the first half-an-hour is worth watching, if for nothing else than Rupert Penry-Jones (Jake)as he "explores" his new masculine body.

"Virtual Sexuality" is an above average movie about teenagers aimed especially at a teenage audience. It does include the traditional ingredients of similar movies, like the interest for the other gender, the good hearted nerd, the school's babe, the stupid jock and the silly parents. Yet is it different. Firstly because it is British (taking place in London) and not American as most films of the kind. Secondly because it contains an interesting twist (the duplication, as a man, of the female lead). Thirdly because the movie is told mainly from a female perspective. It does have some good points about relations between girls and boys in their upper teens, and they are told in a funny and inventive way. The main asset of the film is however Laura Fraser who plays the female lead, Justine. She is not only beautiful in a fresh and believable way, but also very, very charming. The movie wouldn't have been the same without her!

Virtual Sexuality proves that Britain can produce romantic comedies as vapid as those from America. The only differences are an ending that ties up the loose bits differently than an American film would and a cameo by Ram John Holder, which is always welcome. That's enough to make this a watcher on a cold winter's night.

Justine is still waiting for her first real romantic encounter. She has had opportunities but has skipped them, for she longs for the whole package; that is, true love. When she goes to a technology fair with a friend named Chas, she enters a booth and is urged to "create" a perfect male for herself on screen. Yet, a freak accident results in her newly fangled male, Jake, to pop out of the screen and be a living specimen. However, he does not want anything to do with Justine. Justine is in despair and resolves she'll "just get it over with" with someone else. No, no Justine! Don't do it! This is a British film with some good moments. Watch Justine on her actual dream date, riding down the Thames in a boat, for example. Now that's lovely. The young actors are all adept, although the man playing Jake did not seem like a "dreamboat" to me. The London setting is fun and the dialogue perky, although there is some bad language thrown in. All in all, do you think you've seen all of the romantic comedies in existence? You have not, if you've missed this one. Look beyond its bad title and give it a whirl for an evening. You might be pleasantly surprised at how likable the film is.

Justine (Laura Fraser) is a Londoner teenager, frustrated for not having a boy friend and for not having had sex yet. Her best friend and advisor is Fran (Marcelle Duprey), and she is decided to have her first sexual experience with the athlete Alex (Kieran O'Brien), who is disputed by many girls. When Justine goes to a Fair of Technology with her nerd friend Chas (Luke De Lacey), she uses a virtual machine and creates her perfect man. However, due to an accident with a great explosion, the virtual man becomes real. He self-calls Jake (Rupert Penry-Jones), becomes a close friend of Chas and is a good athlete and successful with the girls. The predictable conclusion of the story offers no surprises. "Virtual Sexuality" is a silly, but also funny romantic comedy. The actresses are very beautiful, the soundtrack is excellent and in the end, this movie is a good entertainment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Sexualidade Virtual" ("Virtual Sexuality")