Love & Sex (2000)

Adam (Jon Favreau) and Kate (Famke Janssen) mix it up as a couple for a while, having the titular *Love and Sex*. Then they break up. While they each date other people, their feelings for each other resurface almost as much as they keep running into each other in social circles. They end up back together again. The end. Interesting, eh? Well, why do you keep patronizing these spongy, fungus-covered things that make the beyond-stale food in the back of your fridge look like French cuisine?Another savagely average boy-girl "romantic comedy" with nothing new to say, nothing profound to offer and nothing remotely involving – except for the chemistry between the two principals.Famke and Favreau are fantastic - but only because I have a thing for Famke and Favreau both. Some good one-liners shot off by Favreau (doing his best Vince Vaughn) and some steamy, square-jawed sexiness exuded by Famke. But nothing can save this movie as the lame vehicle it tries so hard to be – and succeeds at being; predicated on that ignorant, age-old stupidity that there's ONE person "out there" for you. (There are so many clichés that have become ingrained in our lexicon that we don't even question what they mean anymore. What exactly does "I will love you forever" mean? If you are bovine enough to believe these kinds of empty palliatives, you deserve every shard of emotional damage you put yourself through.) The perp responsible for writing and directing this swill is – surprise! – a girl: Valerie Breiman. Which of course makes every word said about love and infatuation and anything else to do with "relationships" absolute bunk.But enough about your girlfriend. This movie is pleasant enough – but people: stop taking these fanciful flirtations as "truth" and marrying these fictional accounts to your aspirations and life pathways and decisions.It's love and sex. One exists. One doesn't. Then you die.

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Sooooooo amazing and underrated. I've watched it dozens of times and I never get sick of it. Jon Favreau is also one of my favorite actors. He's so funny! He and Famke Jensen have an amazing chemistry in this film. It seems so real and genuine, like a lot of things you can relate to and understand. One of my favorite scenes is when Kate comes home and Adam asks her to fill him a tub. I love it! :) Another one is when they are out shopping, walking down the street and they start an argument about who looks better when they age, men or women. Anyways if you've never seen I obviously highly recommend it.

LOVE AND SEX (2000) *** Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau, Cheri Oteri, Noah Emmerich, Ann Magnuson, Josh Hopkins, Rob Knepper, Vincent Ventresca, (Cameo: David Schwimmer). Dir: Valerie Breiman.I love Famke Janssen. Her curvaceous, statuesque physique and indelible cheekbones, the lush lips and alert dark brown eyes complimenting her mane of raven hair… Sorry. Ok now that I 've got that out in the open I can now happily say that her latest film, and first comedy, is an engaging and funny look at two characteristics seldom in synch during relationships.The aforementioned sexy significant other in a parallel universe stars as Kate a young woman facing her past and present affairs of the heart largely due to her stressful job as a feature journalist for a chic women's magazine not unlike Cosmopolitan run by her shrewish editor (Magnuson, always a welcome sight and doing a slight riff on her character from her sitcom 'Anything But Love'), who forces her to make a deadline about an article on finding (and loving) the right man.Kate has been through the relationship mill and flashbacks in chronology from her deflowering by her French college professor (Knepper) to an unknowingly married man (Emmerich) up to her 14th lover, Adam (Favreau, best known from 'Swingers'), an artist with a flair for the grotesque in his ugly paintings and for his way with being forthright in conversation. Immediately smitten by his charm Kate falls in love and is convinced Adam is her soulmate and vice versea.What follows is a string of sequences of the ups and downs of their relationship with echoes of 'Annie Hall', 'She's Having A Baby' and 'When Harry Met Sally…' but maintains a smartness all its own and largely for a change of pace, told mostly from the woman's viewpoint thanks to novice filmmaker Breiman who also penned the sassy, self-deprecating screenplay. Many of her setups take time and are played loose for full effect as well as some genuine out loud laughs, especially when Kate and Adam break up and they keep running into one another with new partners (I loved Kate's assessment of one of Adam's young nymphos as a Lolita and when he defends her by saying she plays the harp her tart retort is, 'Oh so she's a bimbo savant'.) Favreau seems to be channeling Albert Brooks with his wire rim glasses and curly hair as well as being funny on his own (his sudden realization of making the biggest mistake in dumping Janssen is an all too true moment not unlike the classic scene in 'Swingers' when he makes the biggest faux pas: answering machine redialing).Oteri, the current Gilda Radner of 'SNL' has a small but amusing part as the Mutt to Janssen's Jeff (or is that the other way around) and one of the largest laughs is by the unbilled Schwimmer; to say anymore would ruin a fine gag.But the biggest surprise is how adept Janssen is in being such a real character and not a cool cucumber as she has been more or less typecast in her other films. Think Janeane Garafalo trapped in the body of a supermodel and you pretty much get the sum of the parts of her Kate.Chemistry, all-too-familiar genre refreshened and a sparkling turn by Janssen makes for a nice date movie (even if you've been married 50 years or it's a blind date) and a good laugh at the foibles of following one's heart (with heartbreak).

The screenplay was witty and had a sense of true comedic timing.The movie only showcases a bit of what the screenplay held.Valerie Breiman wrote a fantastic script, but her direction was somewhat lacking, and I felt that the actors did the best they could with what she gave them. There were some elements of great comedy, but the timing was just a BIT off. A more experienced director could have played up the many one liners and the countless funny moments from Kate's love life. The ending just sort of showed up, which was disappointing, and she could have worked more of the new article deadline into the story. And unfortunately, the one serious moment in the story (which was acted very well) was too short and it could have been explored more, and could have exhibited itself further in the story as something like that affects someone very deeply, even Kate.Jon Favreau is a very funny man and from what I've seen a pretty good actor. Famke Janssen, while best known as the best bad Bond Girl and Jean Grey from X-men, isn't known for her acting ability, having taken some roles in some very VERY bad movies. However, I think almost each and every time she makes a movie she gets better and better. This was the first time I'd seen her play something other than the one dimentional characters from her previous roles. I think that in 'Love and Sex' and also in the new 'X-2 X-Men United' she's starting to show some real acting chops, some true depth, indicating that she's more than just a former-model-turned-actress cliche. She turned out some very very funny scenes, but the director as I said earlier just missed out on the very jokes she had written. Hopefully, Ms. Janssen will start to get some meatier roles to play, based on the potential she showed here and the heart and soul she's brought to a comic book character for crying out loud. But that's another review and a completely different type of movie. I'd like to see her do more comedy.Ms. Brieman gave a decent 1st time out movie, it just could have been so much more. I still really enjoyed it and if I had the money I'd go buy it. I got the humor, and appreciated it, even though it was poorly put on the screen. Maybe its because I'm just as neurotic as Kate and Adam.