Cast: Sean Patrick Flanery, Jerry O'Connell, Amanda Peet, Tara Reid, Ron Livingston, Emily Procter, Brad Rowe, Sybil Temchen
Director: Michael Cristofer
Producers: Harry Colomby, Jennifer Keohane
Screenplay: David McKenna
Cinematography: Rodrigo García
Music: Mark Isham
U.S. Distributor: New Line Cinema
Body Shots is a graphic and sporadically compelling motion picture that uses equal parts comedy, introspection, and tragedy to offer a measure of social commentary about the confusion and frustration faced by superficial twentysomethings as they navigate a treacherous sexual road map. It's an edgy movie that doesn't pull any punches, and, despite some of the most frank discussions about oral sex in any multiplex-bound film, Body Shots managed to avoid the NC-17 kiss of death. (Don't ask me how...) However, even though it may be playing at a local theater, this movie is not mainstream. The characters often come across as shallow and self-absorbed, and those aren't the most appealing individuals to stay with for 100 minutes. Fortunately, as the film unspools, we detect layers in the protagonists that are not apparent from the outset. Body Shots confronts themes and issues that most movies approach from an oblique angle, if at all. Everything in this film does not work, but its failures are often more interesting than many movies' successes.
Body Shots is not constructed like a conventional movie. Filmmaker Michael Cristofer (the award winning playwright of "The Shadow Box" and the director of the made-for-TV picture, Gia - as well as the screenwriter for The Bonfire of the Vanities) refuses to adhere to traditional narrative methods. His characters frequently address the camera directly, as if they are answering questions for a documentary interview. The story skips back and forth in time. And the technique of the unreliable narrator is used to good effect. Add to that a lively camera that prefers odd angles, unusual visual effects such as filming at six frames per second to make objects appear to move fast, and a pulsing soundtrack, and Body Shots never lets the energy level dip.
The movie tackles many issues - some serious and some trivial - about sex, love, and dating in today's society. Of course, these are concerns that have obsessed nearly every generation to inhabit human civilization, but Cristofer's approach is particular to the Generation X point-of-view. The characters in Body Shots are all looking for human contact. They'll take sex, but they want love. As one guy puts it, "If you really got close to everyone you [had sex with], you wouldn't be this lonely." Another develops an odd equation: sex without love equals violence. In addition to exploring the difference between lust and love, and what constitutes dating in the late '90s, Body Shots takes time out to give tips on oral sex and explain why nice guys are boring. Much of the film's second half deals with the controversial issue of what constitutes date rape. As has been illustrated repeatedly in the courts, a line that should be clear often becomes blurred, especially when alcohol and low self-esteem are involved.
Cristofer presents a narrative that traces 24 hours in the lives of eight people as their paths cross and diverge. There are four girls and four guys - all physically attractive, all immature and self-obsessed, and all with a lot of money to burn. The women are Jane (Amanda Peet), Sara (Tara Reid), Whitney (Emily Procter), and Emma (Sybil Temchen). The men are Rick (Sean Patrick Flanery), Michael (Jerry O'Connell), Trent (Ron Livingston), and Shawn (Brad Rowe). These two quartets meet at a club, where most of them get drunk, then pair off for the night. Jane goes with Rick, and Sara leaves with football player Michael, even though she has been dating nice guy Shawn. Distressed at seeing his girlfriend depart with another man, Shawn proves he's not all that nice when he corners Emma in an alley for a hot encounter. Meanwhile, Trent learns that Whitney has some kinky sexual preferences.
All of this is a prelude to the movie's central conflict. Late at night, a bleeding and disheveled Sara arrives at Jane's door, claiming to have been raped by Michael. This allows Cristofer to employ a Rashomon-influenced presentation of Sara and Michael's evening. Two versions of events - his and hers - are depicted, and it's clear that more than just a misinterpretation of words and gestures has taken place. Someone is lying. And the question isn't just "Who?" but "Why?" Unfortunately, after setting up this potential powder keg with great care, Cristofer doesn't follow through. The resolution isn't likely to satisfy anyone, and is a case of filmmakers taking the easy way out.
Body Shots has a young, fresh cast. Many of these faces will tickle the memory without necessarily being instantly recognizable. The most effective performance is given by Tara Reid (American Pie), who carries out the role of the rape victim with aplomb, navigating around most of the melodramatic traps. Sean Patrick Flanery (Suicide Kings) and Amanda Peet portray the cool, smooth lawyers who are probably the most mature of the group. And Ron Livingston (the star of Office Space) is on hand primarily for comic purposes.
The screenwriter is David McKenna, who wrote American History X. On the surface, the two films don't appear to have much in common, but both deal with the need to cut through shallow barriers and connect in a meaningful way with someone else (a common problem in modern society, where voice mail and e-mail have diluted interpersonal interaction). Body Shots concentrates on sex instead of racism, but, in its own way, it is no less shocking or thought-provoking. In terms of a frank and unflinching approach to the battle between the sexes, some may be reminded of Neil LaBute's searing Your Friends and Neighbors. Body Shots is not as relentlessly grim, but it occupies the same general territory, and the characters are no more pleasant to be around. Ultimately, this movie is designed to stir up controversy and fuel discussions outside of the theater, and it certainly has the content and capacity to fulfill that goal.
© 1999 James Berardinelli