Three things are apparent within the first 10 minutes of Kissing Jessica Stein. First, though the film is ostensibly about two straight women who decide to go lesbo and fall in love, Jessica will end up with the guy she currently despises. Also, although both women take a freshman crack at the girl-girl thing, one is clearly more invested in the concept than the other. Finally, the too-close camera shots, the emphasis on fast, witty banter, and the overacting will be a niggling annoyance throughout the film. There's one thing I still can't figure out, though: For whom was Kissing Jessica Stein made?

Straight women of the sort portrayed in Kissing Jessica Stein develop crushes on other women all the time. More often than not we dress for each other rather than for men. We often greet one another by throwing out a foot, seeking admiration for and commentary on our new shoes. Most of us have shared the realization that if it weren't for the dicks and the strong arms, we'd be better off with each other as mates. Some of us take it a curious step further, get drunk, and tumble into bed with our friends, only to realize sooner or later that the dicks and the strong arms really are what make the difference, even if the mouths attached to them hardly ever mention our shoes.

Kissing Jessica Stein gets that part right, but with all the bad acting and clichéd subplots (engaged siblings, clueless ex-boyfriends, the vicarious thrills of a married friend--pregnant, of course), and the fact that the title character is almost entirely unlikable, one struggles to identify the target audience. Lesbians? Not likely, given that the genuine lesbian in Kissing Jessica Stein (Helen) is a criminally underdeveloped character, even though she's the co-lead. Bi-curious? Unlikely there, too, unless the film was meant to demonstrate that women's relationships with other women define how women relate to men. The film certainly won't find an audience in straight guys, because all girl-on-girl sex takes place offscreen, and every male character comes off like a jackass in the dating realm. Is the film hoping to appeal to gay men, then? Maybe. They seemed to like it at the screening I attended.

Given the success of Sex and the City (which, by the way, covered the same subject more interestingly in a three-episode arc), this makes sense--the majority of its openly appreciative viewers are straight women and gay men. Kissing Jessica Stein plays like a sitcom, that's for sure, and the tidy pre-revealed ending leaves the viewer nonplused (a word whose correct definition is part of the aforementioned fast, witty banter) as to why writer/actors Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt persevered in bringing it to the big screen rather than pitching it to HBO. (After all, how often do we care to care more about the tidy endings of sitcoms?) Also, the film was directed by a man whose emotional connection to the story includes a college romance with his straight roommate. And any gay man who watches Sex and the City is quick to point out that the TV series is often written by gay men.

Although I'm not entirely convinced this was Juergensen and Westfeldt's intent, I think the film's target audience is straight women--otherwise the character of Helen (the more likeable new lesbian, the one without all the straight-girl hang-ups and the ex-boyfriend constantly looming in the background) would have been better fleshed out. Kissing Jessica Stein bends over backwards to illustrate that loving your friend with whom you have everything in common is not the same as having the stamina to sustain a romantically driven sexual relationship with her.

Sharing passion for shoes, makeup, art, and language with the person you also go down on is a dream Juergensen and Westfeldt seemingly don't believe can truly be attained. The inevitable failure of Jessica and Helen's relationship indicates a lack of optimism on the part of the writers/stars. While it's only hinted that Helen may have found true happiness, the screen is filled with images of Jessica's new enlightenment toward men and her less restricted sense of self, made apparent by her relaxed clothing style and curly hair. She's living for herself now, freely; women and men are her friends. It just took a little longer than one drunken night for her to figure it out.