Archive

Review of “Puccini for Beginners”

Ten years have elapsed since writer-director Maria Maggenti brought us the now-classic tale of teenage lesbian love, The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love. Her most recent film, Puccini for Beginners, which is co-produced by Logo, is a screwball romantic comedy about the perils of bisexual dating that opens in theaters today.

The film centers on Manhattan author Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser), whose most clear-cut love is opera. Puccini for Beginners pays homage to that art form in both its structure and tenor – as well as its title, of course. Puccini is divided into a prologue, three acts and an epilogue. It also has all the grand drama and farce of a classic opera, with a fair share of soapy antics tossed in.

The film is polished and entertaining in a breezy way. It is not necessarily challenging to viewers, but it seems to make the point that nobody really wants to be challenged all the time, anyway.

As the film begins, Allegra is being dumped by her girlfriend, Samantha (Julianne Nicholson). Samantha is fed up with the fact that after nine months together, Allegra still thinks it’s too soon to know whether she’s in love with her, so Samantha decides to go back to her former boyfriend.

On the rebound, Allegra meets Columbia professor Philip (Justin Kirk) at a party, and they soon hook up. Commitment-phobic Allegra is horrified when Philip leaves his long-term girlfriend to be with her, but she agrees to a supposedly brief and meaningless affair – which, of course, quickly proves to be neither.

Meanwhile, Allegra also starts seeing an investment banker named Grace (Gretchen Mol) whom she meets at a movie theater. Allegra juggles both affairs for awhile before learning that Grace is the girlfriend Philip recently dumped, setting the stage for both melodrama and humor.

Some of the film’s comic devices are reminiscent of early Woody Allen, such as Allegra imagining that strangers are giving her advice when in actuality they’re just offering a refill on coffee or announcing the next subway stop. But these devices are well employed and actually very funny. One of the most entertaining scenes features a restaurant full of diners chiming in with their competing views on Allegra’s situation.

Because the story takes place in Manhattan and features 30-something, middle-class, white women lunching and fussing over their own and each other’s love lives, it’s hard not to think of Sex and the City. But Puccini is never risqué, and the sex scenes are brief and more humorous than they are passionate; it’s sweeter than it is sexy.

While the approach is light, Puccini does tackle issues such as gender politics, fluidity in sexual identity and relationships, and how to ultimately free ourselves from self-sabotage. It does this without pretension, other than an occasional pompous comment that’s meant to be seen as just that. And its social commentary is encapsulated in comic moments, such as when a self-identified lesbian suddenly finds herself not only on a date with a man, but – gasp! – ordering the salad.

One of Puccini‘s greatest strengths is its dialogue. Maggenti has a knack for smart, funny conversation, and her actors are skilled at delivering it. The lines aren’t so contrived that you’re constantly aware that this is a movie rather than real life, yet the characters say things that are funnier than the routine dialogue of real life.

Reaser’s performance as Allegra stands out.

Not only does she have excellent comic timing, she embodies her character in a way that makes her as complicated as she is familiar and endearing, and as charismatic as she is physically appealing. And even if I’m the only one who thinks Reaser vaguely resembles Penelope Cruz, I’m convinced there’s at least something similar in their smiles.

It’s hard to tell whether Mol’s performance as Grace is flat or if she simply has weaker material to work with. Her character is certainly less well-drawn. We’re left with little to reconcile her flightiness with the fact that she’s an investment banker, and while her passion for glass-blowing makes sense, it only makes her day job that much more implausible.

When she brings her steering wheel club inside with her because it’s expensive and she doesn’t want it to get stolen, it’s just not funny. And it seems especially like forced cuteness when she winds up clutching it awkwardly as she and Allegra kiss at the entrance to the subway.

But the fact that the women kiss at a subway entrance exemplifies another of the film’s strengths. Throughout the film, Puccini portrays lesbian affection in public with never a negative consequence. While this may be more fantasy than reality, it’s refreshing to see the positive images, and this is certainly a feel-good movie.

I just wish that Grace and Allegra could share as much chemistry as Philip and Allegra do. Kirk’s is another standout performance; he shines here as he does in other films and in the Showtime series Weeds. Lesbians may cringe when Allegra leads Philip on at the same time that she’s insisting she can’t be attracted to him because she’s a lesbian, but ultimately this is no Chasing Amy.

Julianne Nicholson and Tina Benko turn in strong supporting roles as Samantha and Allegra’s ex-girlfriend Nell, respectively. Benko in particular expertly delivers some of the film’s funniest lines. But everyone’s big question is: Does our hero end up with the guy or the girl? Well, you’ll find no spoiler here other than this: a) it’s more complicated than that, and b) everyone ends up with who they were meant to be with.

Puccini for Beginners is now available on DVD. Watch the trailer here:

Lesbian Apparel and Accessories Gay All Day sweatshirt -- AE exclusive

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button