Written and directed by women, this intelligent satire provides a funny, feminine slant on coupling in the AIDS era. Thompson, a would-be chef, and Jackson, a kindergarten teacher, are eligible bachelorettes in La La Land. In a blackout scene that reveals the film's theatrical origins,
the two address the audience directly (as they do periodically throughout the film), explaining their sexual histories, which are shown in flashback. Thompson has been something of a bed-hopper, but the fear of sexually transmitted diseases has led to a year of near celibacy for her. Jackson, on
the other hand, has a considerably shorter lovemaking resume. She was the last virgin in her college dorm, has yet to experience an orgasm, and is convinced she'll never find a man. Thompson and Jackson leave LA behind for a vacation at a health spa, where they encounter a crowd of randy singles
and eventually meet their Misters Right. CASUAL SEX? began as a three-song sketch (without the question mark) and then developed into a play, before being fleshed out into a screenplay through the efforts of executive producer Ivan Reitman and his wife, director Genevieve Robert. The sketchlike
structure remains, and it is put to good use by Robert, who paces the film well and exercises a particularly deft hand in Jackson's and Thompson's funny dream sequences. While all the performances are solid, the real surprise here is Andrew Dice Clay, a stand-up comedian whose often-repulsive
misogynist stage persona is modified here to produce the funny and ultimately very likable spa-cruiser Vinny. This is hardly a film that is going to change anyone's life, but while profundity is not its aim, CASUAL SEX? has a ring of emotional truth, as it cleverly pokes fun at the crisis-altered
sexual mores of the 1980s.
