Eulogy:
Two Lesbians and a Funeral Sarah Warn,
June 2003
**warning:
spoilers**
No
dysfunctional family get-together is complete without
at least one lesbian relationship among the shocking secrets
revealed during the reunion, and the upcoming dark comedy Eulogy
includes not just one but two such revelations.
Scheduled
for limited release in U.S. theaters on October 17th, 2003 (and
wider release in December), the Michael Clancy-directed film
Eulogy stars Kelly Preston (Jerry Maguire, For
the Love of the Game) and Famke Janssen (X-Men
and X-Men 2) as lovers in a cast that also includes
Debra Winger, Ray Ramano, Rip Torn, Hank Azaria, Gleanne Headly,
Zoey Deschanel and Jesse Bradford.
Although
several relationships are explored in the film,
Preston and Janssen's appears to be an integral part of
the story. "Our relationship was meant to be a little
more subtle than it turns out," Janssen explained in
a recent interview, "but Kelly and I were goofing around
one day on set and it just seemed so right and so much funnier
to be more explicit."
In
one scene in the trailer, Romano chides Azaria "how
are you going to throw lemon at me in front of a lesbian?"
and in another, Janssen's character introduces herself to
some of Preston's family:
FAMKE:
"Hi guys, I'm Lucy's life partner"
WINGER (to Azaria): "Gee,
it didn't occur to me to bring my sex toy."
PRESTON:
"You wouldn't know a sex toy if it left a battery
in your vagina."
Janssen's
online chat with USA Today to promote X-Men 2
revealed more information about the motivation behind Preston's
intent in returning home in Eulogy:
"I'm Kelly's [Preston] girlfriend. Her father dies and
she brings me home for the funeral. She decides to announce,
at the funeral, that we're gonna get married, which doesn't
go over very well. The whole family is insane. I can't even
begin to tell you how insane this family is. It's just the wackiest
comedy."
It
appears from a clip that ran on Entertainment Tonight last month
that the film will culminate with the wedding of Janssen and
Preston, presumably after the funeral and much family chaos
has resolved itself. (Janssen also mentioned to ET that there
won't be any passionate kisses in the film, just one quick kiss.)
The
tumultuous relationship between the two sisters
(Preston and Winger) is a prominent theme in thefilm, and the trailer shows them arguing and physically
attacking each other on more than one occasion. Preston
elaborated on this, as well as her relationship with Janssen,
in a recent interview:
"[Eulogy
is] a dark comedy, a little twisted but very funny. It's
about a dysfunctional family getting together for the funeral
of their father. And I have these horrific fights with my
sister Debra where she just pushes my buttons relentlessly.
I've brought my lover, Famke Janssen, home with me. Yes,
I'm a lesbian in the film."
What
they don't mention in any official plot descriptions but
show briefly in the trailer is that Winger also hooks up with a
woman--in a parked car in the family driveway, with her shocked
family looking on. It isn't clear from the trailer exactly who she
is with, but it's clearly a woman and definitely not Janssen or
Preston (who are among the family members crowded at the window
watching).
In
1987, Winger starred in the film Black Widow, in which
she and Theresa Russell engaged in a homoerotic but ultimately platonic
relationship, but this will be her (and Janssen's) first time playing
an explicitly lesbian or bisexual role. Preston
played a small role as a lesbian in the 1996 film Citizen Ruth.
Reports
last year indicated that Winona Ryder and Monica Potter were originally
slated to play the lesbian couple in Eulogy, but for
reasons that are unclear, the roles were given to Preston and
Janssen instead.
Besides
the trailer and the cast, there is little other information
about the film currently available since it only recently completed
production. If the trailer is any indication, however, the movie
does indeed appear to be very funny--a sort-of over-the-top blend
of Parenthood, Kingdom Come, and the 2003 indie film Kiss
the Bride, with a lot of physical comedy and some very funny
dialogue.
Eulogy is one of only two Hollywood films coming out in 2003
which prominently feature lesbians and lesbian relationships (Gigli
is the other), and so far, Eulogy is the only one that
appears to do so realistically. Although the dysfunctional-family
comedy her certainly been done many times over, it will be refreshing
to see one that is so casually inclusive of lesbian relationships,
as well as entertaining and funny--a combination which will do more
for lesbian visibility than all the sermonizing in the world.
Eulogy
will be released on DVD on February 8, 2005; you can pre-order here.
