Body Shots (1999)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a well done movie, as in it's premise, with many actors addressing us earlier on, about their own views and attitudes towards sex, cause remember it's now 2000. What you don't count later on, is, if not watching the start, is the rapid turn the film takes. Yes our eight, twenty somethings, whatever, party like it's 1999, boozing, dancing, drug taking, and fighting. It's so 200O, this movie, which is colorfully, if deliciously entertaining and involving. Over the course of the night, things really get out of hand for two players, if instigated by a fracas with a bouncer, earlier. What ensues for O'Connell and Reid is sex gone wrong. O'Connell is charged with the rape of Reid, who back at his palatial spread, started coming onto him, and he returned his affections forcefully, against her will. But did he really rape as we have two sides to each story, as it appears Reid, her character, a wannabe actress here, has had a really bad history with booze. So really the film becomes in a lesser extent, a dramatic thriller. Who's bullshitting who. The film cleverly shows the different POV from our two, where Reid could of even made it up, where some flashbacks weren't authentic, or a little misrepresented, that's the fun in the story here. Like in Jerry Macquire, O'Connell matter of fact here, plays another big shot athlete, where only his best friend, Rick (Sean Patrick Flannery) stands by him, as really the other guys really don't know him. The dorky Trent (Ron Livingston) cracked me up, and stole the film. Besides the part where he tries to sneak back into the club, cause of his dress sense, wait to you see his hilarious flashback, later, before returning his crib, which he shares with the guy, that completes our foursome. Oh I didn't mention another short flashback, involving him with a much older woman, which you have to see. All performances are good here, and well as a sexy female cast, we have a couple of sexy bits, but this pic, will surprisingly involve you. Quite a potent film, if only for a unsatisfying or displeasing ending/result, that I highly recommend, especially to fans of some it's actors. Check out a scene of originality, where the druinken O'Connell, after his crime temporarily takes over a hamburger shop. Obviously, he really had the munchies.

BODY SHOTS is one of the excellent romantic dramas (with a little morbid and hilarious humor thrown in) of the late 90s that gives an up close and personal look at Los Angeles nightlife, dating and of course sex. 8 people, 4 females and 4 males, take you through a single night in their lives, and even though they may seem very vapid and stereotyped at first, they are 8 very interesting people.They are at that age, in their 20s-30s, when they are unsure of what they are looking for: just fun sex? just a nice companion? their mate for life? Rick (the gorgeous Sean Patrick Flanery) is an attorney who could have everything he wants, only he is not sure what he wants. One thing is for sure, he is lonely. "If you fall in love with everyone you #@!%, you would not be this lonely." He is about to embark on a new relationship with a legal clerk named Jane (probably one of the underused Amanda Peet's best performances). Rick's friend Sean (the equally gorgeous Brad Rowe) is a nicely dressed yuppie, almost old fashioned in his chivalry.Like Rick, Sean is unsure of who he is or what he wants. I found Sean to be the most interesting of the males. He tries to project a certain image or personality, but he has so many secrets that he seems uncomfortable with himself. He even has a dark side, and is very uncomfortable with that as well. During this fateful night on the town with his friends, he has sex with one of the girls, Emma (an actress I've always enjoyed, Sybil Temchen, who looks just a tad like Mira Sorvino), but even though it's no doubt a pleasurable (a long, graphic but not gratuitous 10 min. scene) experience, both parties immediately regret doing this and part company. Their sex was influenced by sudden loneliness and alcohol, and the next day, Emma examines her habit of drinking too much and carrying around a wine bottle rather than just a glass.Her friend Whitney (one of my idols, Emily Procter) is a silicone enhanced but very warm and caring blonde who works as a cocktail waitress at the club they frequent. Whitney was probably the most interesting of the females. She, like the character Callie Dusquense of CSI Miami, is a very strong and confident personality who actually DOES seem to know what she wants. Almost male in her viewpoints, she doesn't want every guy she brings home to be attaching himself emotionally to her. She doesn't want to wake up and find that some guy she only wanted sex from is making himself comfortable in her house, talking about commitment, or "eating my cereal". An adventurous woman, she hooks up with the male most like herself, Trent (a hilarious Ron Livingston, who actually became more gorgeous after these mid-late 90s films). Trent is another character who is pretty blunt about what he's looking for. "It's not a wedding band." Whitney and Trent are probably the only 2 characters who truly enjoyed the night, because neither of them are really looking for "love".The 2 who end up absolutely NOT enjoying their night are Michael (yes, he's gorgeous as well: Jerry O'Connell), a pro football star and Sara (Tara Reid, an actress I liked in all these 90s movies...before she turned into a tabloid. Honey, seriously, why did you think you needed implants???!!!) After dancing naughtily all night and having a violent brawl with the henchman of some actor, the 2 end up in Sara's apartment, and suddenly there are serious accusations of rape flying around.The search for the truth leads to an inevitable "battle of the sexes". It's impossible to tell which party is the liar. The truth about these people's unhappiness and emptiness is revealed, and the strength of friendship is put to a hard test.The end is ambiguous, which is realistic. It's hard to say what the moral of the story is, except that it is a lonely world, and in their quest to find whatever they are looking for, love, commitment, fun, companionship or just hot sex, often times the search can end in disappointment, regret and even more loneliness. In the case of Michael and Sara, it was hatred, or perhaps it was morning-after regret. In the case of Sean and Emma, it was self-loathing and regret. In the case of Trent and Whitney, it was good fun and nothing more. In the case of Rick and Jane, well, that was especially sad. They seemed to click and match very well, and things looked promising, but the terrible event involving Michael and Sara ultimately drove a wedge between them.This isn't everyone's favorite kind of film, but it is mine because it really made me have to think about each character and each motive. I'd give it an A+.

This movie isn't that bad to be honest. It's an interesting take on big city dating for the new generation. Sex, drugs, alcohol, they're all here and contributing the the deliquency of dating. Ron "Peter Gibbons" Livingston is in it, come on! It has to be at least decent right? Plus, you all remember Tara Reid? Yeah the blonde chick in American Pie, well she shows off her very nice breasts here. so Rent it now perverted high school/college kid! If you're actually in your mid to late twenties, this one might seem a little immature, but it isn't crap! It's a movie liked whipped in a lot of ways, only without the humor. So, if date rape and infidelity interests you, Body shots will at least interest you, if not entertain you, for 106 minutes. Rent it if you ever get one of those "Rent One Get One Free" coupons.

Director Michael Cristofer really outdid himself on his Sophmore project. This project is commonly known as "Body Shots." This movie brings together Hollywood's most dynamic young stars and starlets and caters to the educated crowd with a sexy punch. On the surface, this movie appears to chronicle a night out on the town with a group of young, sexy singles. In reality, Cristofer has succeeded in delivering to the public a modern day accounting of "The Four Ages" poem by the classical poet Ovid. For those of you unfamiliar, Ovid is actually short for Publius Ovidius Naso, a poet born shortly after the death of Julius Caesar and raised in the fertile hills about 90 miles east of Rome. This fact brings an eery similarity to the modern day fertile hills of California. The movie takes viewers through four distinct "ages"...standin around, clubbin, sexin' it up, and stuff. Each of these "ages" are directly connected to the four ages of Ovid's poem: The Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze age and the Iron Age. To best illustrate this, I shall use some quotes from an original 1954 translation of Ovid's "Metamorphoses." The Golden Age: "...a time that cherished of its own will, justice and right; no law. fearfulness was quite unknown, and the bronze tablets held no legal threatening..." When you see the movie, it is clear to see how this relates directly to the plot. The Silver Age: "Jove made the springtime shorter...(I will give this one to you - this passage refers to the wait in the club line being much shorter than usual, due to the powerful connections one of the babes has with the doorman) The woodland thickets, and the bark-bound shelters no longer served; and the seeds of grain were planted in the long furrows." The Age of Bronze: "...agressive instincts, quick to arm, yet not entirely evil." Notice how this very concise wording fits exactly with the plot of the movie. Agressive sexual instincts, not entirely bad. I will leave the examples from the Iron Age out, as I want all of you to experience first hand the beauty of this film. 10 out of 10 for the babe factor, 9 out of 10 for the film. Bravo, bravissimo!!!!!