Low-Cal Romance

Rating: 8/10 (20 December 2004)

This low-cal romance is probably a triumph for Hawke personally, who worked on the script, in terms of its astute commentary on current relationships experienced by Generation X. It's reminiscent of a comment he made in REALITY BITES about life being a random series of events and near escapes - you know the line.
The two actors carry this vignette in an 80 minute running dialog which is so well rehearsed that at time it has a sing-song quality. Speaking of song, one of the film's highlights is Duply's sweetly sung love ballad with notes of dismay, which recaptures her essential beauty and charm in the nick of time before the film ends, (but doesn't really conclude).
Being a chick, I gulped down every moment of this frothy café latte made with skim milk, and would not change a bit of it, even the abrupt ending, except for one small detail. When Celine mistakes Jessie's "merci" for "messy", she sarcastically mocks his French. If I were writing the script, I would have given him a come-back bit, complimenting her improved English skills with, "but you, your English is, how you say, 'tres bien!'".