In the opening scenes of "Love and Sex," Kate Welles (Famke Janssen) argues, "I know ten times more about blowjobs than I do about relationships." Kate will have one massive revelation comprised of countless more minor realizations over the following 75 minutes and will emerge, little to the viewer's surprise, with a complete understanding of the nature of relationships. Despite how dull and predictable such an inherently mawkish concept may appear, the film is often pleasant and amusing work that should be considerably easier for couples to snuggle up to.
Shades of Lester Burnham from "American Beauty" can be detected in Kate's life (Kevin Spacey). She works at a well-known women's magazine, is dissatisfied with her job, and writes bogus article after bogus article. Her supervisor is referred to as "the antichrist," and she is about to be fired because of her present assignment. The piece in question, which was meant to reflect the delights of oral sex, ended up being a how-to on doing efficient fellatio, which Kate describes as "a blow by blow" account. Unlike Lester, who tries to overcome his troubles at home by starting over every day, Kate resolves to do what the protagonist of "High Fidelity," Rob (John Cusack), does and reconcile her romantic history first.
The film is jam-packed with romantic notions like "planned spontaneity is the key to long-term love" and "we [fell in love] for one reason: nothing else makes us feel better." Although you can frequently tell that such cheesy comments result from a scriptwriter who undoubtedly spent late nights, such one-liners make the movie operate on numerous levels and proceed forward.
The film appears to have no reservations about letting its protagonists flaunt their devotion in public. However, the directors seemed afraid to go "all the way," opting instead for a disturbing lack of nuance. Films like this and "An Affair of Love" irritate spectators by using a lot of sexual jargon but providing little actual sexual substance. Suppose a movie aims to depict the genuine nature of intimate interactions, as "Love and Sex" appears to do. In that case, nudity should be celebrated rather than discarded with uncomfortable methods like the notorious "L" shaped covers.
Fortunately, Famke Jannsen, the film's leading lady, has sex appeal. Above all, the young actress appears natural, without the jaded movie-star expression that distinguishes sex appeal from sex symbolism among Hollywood's leading ladies.
Kate and her major lover, Adam (Jon Favreau), debate what to rent at a video store at one point in the film. Adam recommends a film featuring topless ninjas, whereas Kate prefers a tear-jerking foreign cinema. The perfect compromise would be "Love and Sex."
