Just a Kiss

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Just a Kiss ★★ 2002 (R)

Actor Stevens' clever directorial debut shows the dark side of 30-something NYC hipsters whose infidelity and jealousy rival any lowbrow talk show fodder. Chain of perilous events is set off by Dag (Eldard), who cheats on his live-in Halley (Sedgwick) with suicidal ballerina Rebecca (Shelton), the girlfriend of Dag's best friend Peter (Breen). When the secret is revealed, more cheating takes place with newcomers Diggs, Choudhury, and Tomei—who plays a hilarious bowling alley waitress. A quirky singles mixer/romantic comedy with a twist, characters are given the chance to go back in time and change their actions. Good performances and writing keep this a few notches above melodramatic send-up, even with somewhat gimmicky use of an animation technique called rotomation. 89m/C VHS, DVD . US Ron Eldard, Kyra Sedgwick, Patrick Breen, Marisa Tomei, Marley Shelton, Taye Diggs, Sarita Choudhury, Zoe Caldwell; D: Fisher Stevens; W: Patrick Breen; C: Terry Stacey; M: Sean Dinsmore.