Movie Review: Finding Bliss

Year: 1998
Writer: Julie Davis
Director: Julie Davis
Stars: Leelee Sobiesky
Matt Davis
Denise Richards
Kristen Johnston
Jamie Kennedy

Two notes on this film. 1) If you are easily offended by sexual references, do not watch this film. 2) If you are only watching in the hopes of seeing the lovely and talented Leelee Sobiesky naked (which is, i confess, what got me to watch it initially) don't bother. It doesn't happen. Frankly, i think that she's probably never going to do a nude scene, much to my sorrow.

But i'm glad that i did watch it. This is a very funny and charming film. On one level, it's your typical "girl meets boy" story, but there's a lot more happening here than that.

The basic plot is that a talented young filmmaker (Leelee Sobiesky) graduates film school with a script that everyone loves, but no one is willing to take a chance on. Unable to find work in Hollywood as a director, she takes an editing job at a "small, up and coming" studio called Grind Productions that turns out to be a porno studio. Hilarity ensues.

This is Director Davis' fifth film. Her prior efforts included the critically acclaimed "Amy's Orgasm", which blue-nosed Americans insist on calling "Amy's O". Kind of like Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", which ended up being marketed as "Zack and Miri". I think that this is a mistake in every case. I mean, let's face it, for any of us familiar with "The Story of O", "Amy's O" sounds way naughtier than the full title. And my grandmother might go see a film called "Zack and Miri", thinking that it's a nice love story. And it IS a love story. just not a very NICE one.

THE GOOD: This film is brilliant. And the reason that I'm reviewing it three years after its release date is that i had never heard of it. I think that most of America hasn't heard of it because it doesn't star a cartoon character and doesn't have a number or the word REVENGE in the title.

I pride myself on not being too impressed with low humor, but the low humor in this film (and there is quite a bit of it) is handled well and cleverly, mostly because of the performances, especially by Ms. Sobiesky, Kristen Johnston and Jamie Kennedy.

The film also makes trenchant observations about both Hollywood and the adult film industry. For instance, Kennedy (as porn star Dick Harder) says to Sobiesky at one point "You're the best director that i've ever worked with... and i've made 400 films!"

As i mentioned before, the performances are all stellar. Even small parts, like Caroline Aaron and Tim Bagley as Sobiesky's parents are brilliantly written and acted.

THE BAD: There's maybe one too many cliches in the film. I'm not saying that there are a lot, but they're there, and, like Sam Mendes' use of roses to represent sexual frustration and rose petals to represent sexual gratification (WE GET IT ALREADY, SAM!) they're a little hard to miss.

THE UGLY: Jamie Kennedy. And i don't mean his performance. It's flawless. He just consistently looks like such a dumbass in this film that he's hard to look at without laughing. And he's naked WAY too much in the film.

Find this movie on cable. Rent it. Buy it. Get it from Netflix. It shouldn't be overlooked, and, sadly, it has been for far too long.

Peace.

Randal