A Family Affair (2001)

Please don't spend money on this.

Memorable, crazy movie

Excellent but underrated film

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I'm actually in the middle of this movie as I type this review. I had to log on to IMDb to see if I was the only person who found this movie to be completely dreadful. At the moment I'm on a marathon of watching all the LGTBQ movies I can find for free on the internet. This is the first one that I found hard to watch. Christine not only isn't believable in her relationship but she doesn't even make a believable blonde. Rachel is definitely not the 34 she claims to be and she DEFINITELY isn't funny. There's a line between funny cynicism and annoying sarcasm and oh man did she cross it. I did enjoy Rachel's mother, I saw a lot of myself in her, even though I'm probably around 40 years younger then her character.I guess that's all I have to say except... did that mother just proudly proclaim her status as a WASP? Although you may be proud of all the things that entails, that has never been mistaken as a compliment for anyone. Horrifying.

This appallingly contrived and humorless film about a Jewish lesbian who has two attractive women battling over her contains only one intriguing aspect: how Helen Lesnick (who wrote, directed and stars - all ineptly) managed to raise the funds to make this nonsense. Lesnick's heavy-handed, witless screenplay would have us believe that her obnoxious, self-absorbed and physically unappealing character would have two strikingly beautiful women battling over her without any indication of what each sees in this tiresome woman.The sole bright spot is the radiant presence of Erica Shaffer, whose iridescent smile and warm personality brightens an otherwise pointless film. But casting such an attractive actress as the woman who would not only put up with having to duke it out with another woman to keep the relationship going, but is willing to convert to Judaisim for her love makes the situation all the more implausible. Lesnick is not only an untalented actress, but lacks the physical attractiveness to explain why such a beautiful woman would give her a second glance, much less make her her life-mate. Casting an actress more in Lesnick's league would have given the film a little more plausibility, but it also would have robbed it of the only reason to watch it in the first place. It also would have denied Lesnick the ego trip of playing love scenes with such a beautiful woman, which seems to have been the only reason for her to have made the film at all.

This movie felt very amateurish, but that's probably what was intended. Michele Green caught my attention from the get-go and was extremely good as the spurned lover. I had no idea it was Abby Perkins from LA Law until I watched disk 2 on the DVD extras. A very good turn for her. By her own admission she feels boxed in as an actress with casting directors not being able to see her beyond Abby-types. Hopefully that will change. Helen Lesniak was decent, and watch-able, but looked much older than 34 and not young enough to be the daughter of Arlene Golonka, but perhaps Arlene is just extremely young looking! I really enjoyed Arlene's performance and that of Barbara Stuart. Good casting there. I also thought Erica Shaffer was good, but truly, I couldn't see much attraction between her and Helen. They didn't seem compatible at all. I wouldn't recommend this film to everyone, but I did enjoy it. 6/10 stars.

Rachel is a Jewish lesbian. Her parents are initially shocked by this revelation (the lesbian part, that is), but have come around so far that they are now leaders of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians And Gays). After a long, on again, off again relationship with a woman named Reggie in New York, Rachel moves to southern California and meets Christine.This romantic comedy stars Helen Lesnick, who also wrote and directed it. Her character breaks the fourth wall frequently, speaking to the camera on and off from the very beginning of the film. While I really enjoyed the film, a couple of minor problems stood out: the actress/writer/director looks much closer to the age of the actress playing her mother than to that of her love interest, and the dialog seemed stilted and occasionally badly overdubbed. I can't help but compare this to "Kissing Jessica Stein," which I saw in Toronto last year but is only now being released in theaters. This film is more real, but is not as inventive or as well delivered, so I would have to give the edge to KJS. Seen at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival) on 3/1/2002.