Just a Kiss (2002) Reviews

• Stylish, but average film

  noizyme2004-11-16

  This movie was a moviestar-filled indie film about relationships and what might have happened had they chosen to take things differently with the people nearest to them. This plot is very overused so naturally to change the movie and make it unique, they add digital effects over the video to make it more artsy. I liked the effects and the different characters were always getting themselves into crazy situations involving neverending change, but the way this was directed was so unbelievable and chaotic that the audience, in my opinion, doesn't have time to understand how to react to the changes that are made. This movie is more depressing than happy or even "real." This obviously is supposed to be a black comedy based around the emotion of love and its many forms and prices of being in love. I gave it a 5/10 stars because although it had nice stylistic touches to keep you watching, there was very little payoff to watching through to the credits.

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• Internet generation "consequences" flick

  siderite2005-10-30

  I took this movie because my wife wanted a romantic comedy. It is slightly comedy as well as romantic, but IT IS NOT a romantic comedy. What it is is one of those situational movies which exploit the butterfly effect in relationships and in the end everybody ends up knowing everybody and having a connection to them and facing consequences for the things they did in the first start of the movie. The graphical effects are nice sometimes, but completely unnecessary. After I watched about 80% of the film I have already decided that it is better than a romantic comedy, as I wasn't bored out of my socks, but worse than any other type of movie. I've already labeled it average and I was waiting for the end. The end, though, transformed into a short "what if" mini-movie that canceled all the bad effects of the first part of the film. I didn't like that, really. So, in conclusion, while it was a rather original take on an old story, it failed to deliver entertainment or at least the discovery of one's true hidden feelings as some of these romantic experiments end up doing. You just watch the movie, completely disconnected and vaguely aware of the emotions of the characters, then it ends.

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• When Harry Met Sally it ain't!

  lduperval2003-06-09

  Great movie! It starts out with two people about to kiss in a hotel room, with both of them admitting that this is going to be a big mistake. Buit they go ahead and do it anyway. After that, the rest of the movie deals with the implications of that kiss. But the way it is all presented is quite fun. There are the somewhat annoying uses of cartooning effects over the real actors. But the most enjoyable part was the way they played with the timeline. At any given time, you aren't really sure if you're in the present or the past. The first few times take you by surprise. Not your typical love story, for sure. I thought the actors were fine, everyone lies, noone is perfect, which is the way life is. Just more so. As Sid Ceasar said, "Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end." And that's what they did with this movie. A good 7.5 (8 on IMDB).

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• Novelty For Novelty's Sake

  B242004-07-20

  There are in fact some good takes in this film. Each is like an episode that relates forward or back to another, with uneven balance. The clever rotomation is probably unnecessary, but you never know because the central theme of infidelity masquerading as comedy never gets off the ground. It could be just that I don't appreciate gimmicks or television-inspired quick jumps from one aspect or view of an object to another. Or that I see Generation X or Millennium Generation attitudes as disjointed and lacking any sense of classic value. Anyone who might be strongly centered on the idea of "character" (in the old sense of that word) should probably avoid this film as a waste of time. Go and rent a computer game or watch Reality TV instead.

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• Way way above average

  name99-92-5453892014-12-23

  Look, let's be honest here: this is a film that most people are going to hate. But if you're in the small group that like it, you're going to love it. It is NOT, contrary to what some reviewers are saying, a, "meh, average" film. This is emphatically not a genre film --- you don't know what to expect, and you can't judge it by genre conventions. In particular, give it about 20 minutes to set the mood and see if you like that. To the extent that it is any genre, it's dark/absurdist comedy. Some funny things happen, some completely unexpected and ridiculous things happen. But it's the comedy of ridiculousness, not on-going laugh-out-loud comedy. It's also not IMHO, pace some other commenters, meant to be a deep meditation on the fragility of life, how one small thing can change lives; it's not Sliding Doors or Run Lola Run. It uses elements of that sort of setup, but for absurdist effect, not to ruminate on life. Having said all that, I Ioved it. We have, in Rebecca the most desirable Manic Pixy Dreamgirl I've yet seen on screen. (Yes, yes, I know it's not PC to lust after MPGs, but, damn, done right they are so appealing; and boy was Rebecca done right.) We also have Marisa Tomei looking more lovely than in any other movie she's ever done. We have a constant stream of bizarre asides that do nothing to forward the plot but somehow just fit the movie (starting with the interaction with the taxi driver that opens the movie). What's not to love? Personally I wish more movies like this were made...

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