Just One Time

Lane Janger is delightful in this bit of risque froth...his delivery and timing are perfect for comedy but would be just as good in drama. We need to see a lot more of him than in "Just One Time", with his obvious talent it's a sure bet we will.

It's a movie like angel food cake -- light, fluffy, insubstantial, and a bit sweet. Unexpected little plot twists and some surprisingly witty dialogue make it a good accompaniment for a big bowl of popcorn on a night when you're not up for anything heavy and meaningful. Hey, sometimes you just want to laugh, and this is just the ticket.

This is a cute tale of a fireman, his fiancee, and the young man who has a crush on the fireman. The fireman has always fantasized about a threesome with two women, and as part of a bachelor party wish, his fiancee agrees -- but not to the threesome he had in mind.

Turn-about is fair play, right? Male chauvinism collides with energetic feminism and latent gayness -- and sparks fly. After all, it is better than a broken arm or a dead mother, right? What a test of manhood! Why didn't someone think of this before?

It's too bad that this film isn't better known because it's a gender-bender with lots of fun. The sausage and fish discussion ranks up there with Lawrence Olivier and Tony Curtis' culinary chat in SPARTACUS.

One of many morals to the story is -- be careful of what you wish for. And if you wish for a light fun film, see this one.

I didn't have high expectations for this film, but I was blown away. This was obviously a labor of love for Lane Janger (star, writer, director). The characters are sweet, attractive and funny. The film has a great sense of humor, scoring laughs, but never getting silly. It's a uniquely touching look at relationships that avoids the cliches and sappiness of the big Hollywood romantic comedies. Why can't more independent films be as well put together as this and why can't more Hollywood romances be this smart? A definite recommendation.

There is potential here, and it shines through occasionally, but unfortunately not consistently.

Despite the fact that the ultimate effect is cute (isn't that a terrible word to describe a film?!) and charming, I found myself scratching my head once or twice about the basic premise of this sometimes enchanting little ditty. I guess Janger is trying to warn us that no fantasy lives up to the reality. OK...an age-old piece of wisdom...no arguments here, BUT he never REALLY lets his two lead characters experience their fantasies. They just seem to get lost and frustrated on the road leading up to it.

Anthony (Janger's character) wants to see his beloved fiancée, Amy (played by a very winning Jennifer Esposito), have sex Just One Time with another woman before they get married and HAVE to put their fantasies to bed. That's where the first question arises: why do married couples have to stop having fantasies? OK, small detail, let's move on...

Amy does not want to grant her beloved Anthony his somewhat cliché, pubescent, masturbatory fantasy, and tries to get around the problem by one-upping him: if he has sex with a man for her, she'll give herself to a woman for him. Now pride and egos start getting in the way of anyone calling the nonsense off. Enter Guillermo Diaz: your excuse for a romantic comedy's gay sidekick. Not to say that Mr. Diaz plays his role poorly; he's actually very winning! That said, his role is no more than a convenient plot devise: the sweet, non-threatening, virginal gay neighbor, who enters on cue, but never causes too much discomfort, either for Anthony or the viewer. Same goes for the conveniently lesbian neighbor played by Joelle Carter, who is planted there to give Amy her brush with homosexuality.

Whereas Amy at least gets a lesbian kiss of free will out of it all, before she throws up her hands and screams, "bring on the bands and ring the wedding bells", Anthony stays annoyingly heterosexual. Oh, he does have a kiss, but it's aggressive and full of anger and frustration. When he wakes up the next morning next to his token gay friend, he's horrified at the idea that something might have transpired. Thank God, his bedmate is able to clear that fright up within 30 seconds!

Actually, a rather insulting bit of tripe, but if even the more emotionally self-assured and mature homosexuals were generous enough to forgive heterosexual men their occasional lapses of taste and decorum for the sake of defending their obviously fragile manhood, then everyone might actually enjoy the 94 minutes that this film has to offer.