'Love and Sex' happens (in the movies, if not to you)

Love and Sex, despite the suggestive title, is about love more than sex. Still, writer/director Valerie Breiman has quite a bit to say about both in her refreshingly realistic film debut. When the story begins, Kate (Famke Janssen of X-Men), a beautiful journalist who writes fluff pieces for a women's magazine, is on the brink of losing her job. Having ticked off her image-conscious editor with a piece on the mood-enhancing benefits of oral sex, Kate is given one day to produce a "happy and perky" single woman's commentary on the two title subjects. In an effort to find some inspiration for her assignment, Kate begins recounting her past relationships, starting with her sixth grade playground heart-break. Soon, the film walks with her down memory lane.

COURTESY LIONS GATE FILMS Have I told you lately that you have a face like a horse?

Although the flashback format is confusing at first, the story that unfolds is as touching as it is funny, and Kate's narration is both insightful and endearing. Because all her observations about love are retrospective, we understand how her relationships have changed her and how she has grown through each of her encounters with love. Kate has had more than her share of bad relationships, from the high school French teacher to whom she lost her virginity, to the music executive sex-fiend who turned out to be married, to the brainless actor who won't stop doing De Niro impressions. Not surprisingly, all of these relationships were centered around sex.

Then there is Adam (Jon Favreau of Swingers). Although he's not the most visually appealing guy, he may be the most charming, and unlike most movie males (not to mention his onscreen female counterpart) Adam cares more about love than he does about sex. He's as blunt as he is witty, and his ability to make Kate smile by calling her "horse face" charms her to no end. Favreau has mastered this unassuming role and is at his best when spouting bits of truth that Kate doesn't want to hear.

With Adam, Kate finds temporary relationship bliss: from playful insults to unclaimed farts in bed, the two are a fun-loving and seemingly perfectly matched pair. The chemistry between Janssen and Favreau leaves the audience crossing their fingers that the two will live happily ever after. But things eventually run their course and the thrill inevitably wears off as Kate and Adam slip into the depressingly familiar cycle of unresolved arguments and sexless nights. Nothing is really wrong between them; the passion has simply gone stale, and while Kate is basically willing to accept a more subdued relationship, Adam is not. So he dumps her. By the time Adam realizes that Kate is the one, Kate has fallen for a new guy and the audience begins to wonder, however briefly, if this movie is going to end happily after all.

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Love and Sex Directed by Valerine Breiman Starring: Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau York Square Cinema

But, predictably, it does. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, right? Even though the story's not going to inspire anything new in the world of cinema, the film is still as revealing as it is entertaining. Through Kate's narrative, Breiman reworks the traditional romantic comedy. The plot gets resolved a bit quickly (the running time of Love and Sex is only 82 minutes) and is somewhat formulaic, but the main characters manage to keep things fresh by avoiding cliches. Janssen, an ex-model, is a knockout in an entirely unassuming way, and her down-to-earth attitude shines through in her portrayal as the winsome Kate. And although the film is drenched in sentimentality, the clever one-liners ("We'd all rather blow up than be single") provide plenty of comic relief—this is one of those rare romantic comedies that will make you laugh out loud. Cynics, don't rule this one out. And for couples, this film has all the makings of a perfect date movie.

Love and Sex works because it feels real: this film isn't art imitating life, but art reflecting life. Breiman's semi-autobiographical script is insightful enough to reveal the subtleties and hidden nuances we thought were unique to our own relationships, resulting in a movie that makes you feel good by making you feel normal. Even if you still don't look like an ex-model.

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