A FAMILY AFFAIR Rating: (out of 5 stars) Director: Helen Lesnick Producer: Valerie Pichney Writer: Helen Lesnick Director of Photography: Jim Orr Cast: Helen Lesnick, Erica Shaffer, Arlene Golonka, Michele Greene Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew

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Review by: Warren Curry
5/6/03

A Family Affair opens with its writer/director/star, Helen Lesnick, breaking the fourth wall and warning the viewer that the film they are about to watch focuses on gay characters. She assures anyone who has mistakenly walked into the wrong theater that it's okay to leave. Perhaps the motivation behind this disclaimer has less to do with the presumed lack of tolerance on the part of the movie going public than it does with Lesnick's acceptance that A Family Affair is a film with a very esoteric vibe. The film feels like its targeting its audience very carefully, because whether the filmmakers care to admit it or not, this movie certainly makes an issue out of its characters' sexual orientation. When A Family Affair isn't busy calling attention to this element, it mostly proceeds as a below average romantic comedy.

Using Woody Allen as an inspiration, but to its credit not merely just mimicking his style, A Family Affair focuses on Rachel Rosen (Lesnick) a 30-something New Yorker who has emerged from a taxing relationship and relocated to San Diego where her parents now reside. Like most East Coast transplants, Rachel has a difficult time acclimating herself to the new environs and a series of disastrous dates doesn't help matters. Enter Christine Peterson (Erica Shaffer), a pretty, upbeat, California girl, who Rachel's mother has set her up with, and romantic sparks fly immediately. Ever the devoted partner, Christine even decides to convert to Judaism to further show her commitment to Rachel.

The more serious the relationship becomes, the more doubts Rachel has about the union. Is it just a fear of commitment, or does it also have to do with Rachel's still unresolved feelings from her previous relationship? When the woman's ex-girlfriend, Reggie (Michele Greene), a shrewd, manipulative Ivy League professor (about as un-Southern Californian as you can get), suddenly re-appears, Rachel finds herself dealing directly with these questions.

A Family Affair could have worked much better if the lead character, whose perspective we see the film from (there's narration to boot), was more engaging. Rachel has one of those always "on" personalities, but there's an aspect of the character that doesn't seem comfortable laughing at herself. It's almost a given that any time the director of a film is also its star, flirtations with narcissism (often unintentional) are to be expected; this is no exception. A bit more insight into Rachel as a person, completely separate of her place in the relationships with Christine and Reggie, would also have been helpful. We learn that she's a freelance writer, but this aspect of the character is never explored at any length.

The chemistry between the characters is almost non-existent. The dialogue is filled with too much exposition and lacks naturalism -- often times a specific line will be followed by a pregnant pause, which just seems to be begging for a reaction. The dramatic impetus of the film's third act is moved along by difficult to believe coincidences, but, thankfully, the movie's overall atmosphere is not as precious as it might've been. The film's low budget is most noticeable in the shoddy sound mix with a good deal of the dialogue sounding obviously looped. A few of the supporting performances are weak, but the leads are generally decent with the strongest work coming from Erica Shaffer in a very likeable turn.

A Family Affair feels too much like a film that was made solely for the purpose of revolving around gay characters, rather than being the result of a vital story whose characters happened to be gay. This is not to imply that there isn't substance to the film -- there is -- but the variety of missteps thwart any chance this film had to really be successful.

(A Small Planet Pictures release. Opens in Los Angeles on May 9, 2003.)