I have seen most of the lesbian movies that are available at Blockbuster; the ones I like to call Gentle Rentals. You know…the films with beautiful straight actresses that appeal to the general public and Middle America, with slightly risqué context but very little physical contact.
Recently, I rented a few of them for an inadvertent Kind-of-Lesbian Film Festival: IMAGINE ME & YOU, followed by GRAY MATTERS.
Both movies were…cute. They weren’t offensive, but neither was entirely realistic either. Piper Perabo certainly seems comfortable playing gay (see: the awful LOST AND DELIRIOUS), but I was much more interested in and drawn to Lena Headey in IMAGINE ME & YOU. And I’m sorry, but there’s no way I can suspend my disbelief enough to believe that Heather Graham is a lesbian. Not for two hours, not ever.
Although GRAY MATTERS was well produced and written/directed by a woman, I might have enjoyed it more with a different cast. I will stand by 2001’s KISSING JESSICA STEIN as the best of the bunch, from cast to execution of story and resolution. Although some of my friends were less than thrilled with the outcome of this movie, I found it very entertaining and genuine in sentiment. I love Jessica Westfeldt’s character and spirit; she could easily be Lisa Kudrow’s doppelganger.
What do YOU think of these films?