Sexual healing

>> Relax... It's Just Sex is sharp and funny

by MATTHEW HAYS

For some odd reason, after his accomplished 1991 feature debut, Together Alone, filmmaker P.J. Castellaneta disappeared from notice. One might have expected some offers and deals to be made for the first-time talent--the feature drew much praise on the festival circuit and won the Best Gay Feature award at the prestigious Berlin Film Fest in '92.

Alas, the film's content may have scared off some potential investors, even in the so-called gay '90s. Together Alone had two gay men lying in bed together after having had sex. It's sex, and nothing else, as they had intended things as a one-night stand. Instead of ending things right there, as so often happens, the two men proceed to have a dialogue on a wide variety of issues, chatting about everything from AIDS to the cause of homosexuality. It was an oddly affecting conversation, a timely film about the difficulty in attaining sexual and/or romantic intimacy in the gay universe; the film had a definite impact on me when I saw it.

Catching up with Castellaneta is a true pleasure. With Relax... It's Just Sex, the director-writer continues much of the conversation he started with Together, but fleshes out his screenplay with an ensemble of dimensional characters, all of them seeking romantic asylum as well. At the film's centre is Mitchell Anderson, the out gay actor who plays a romantically frustrated playwright (and this part feels mighty autobiographical). Though he can't seem to find Mr. Right, Anderson has surrounded himself with loyal and true friends, including an angsty faghag (Jennifer Tilly), an HIV-positive buddy (Eddie Garcia) and a broken-hearted lesbian (Cynda Williams).

As with Together Alone, Castellaneta has populated his film with types. But the intrigue and entertainment with his screenplay comes with the unexpected directions he takes his characters in. Anderson and company grapple with debates over the origins of AIDS, the importance of parenthood and what constitutes commitment.

It's not a perfect film--one is occasionally gripped by the sense that Castellaneta is trying a bit too hard to be a gay Woody Allen--but there's enough honesty and integrity here to warrant a recommendation. Relax... It's Just Sex will sate those audience appetites that long for intelligent, thoughtful onscreen representations of queers. :

Relax... It's Just Sex opens Friday, January 14 at Cinema du Parc, see repertory listings for showtimes