PeachHamBeach
BODY SHOTS is one of the excellent romantic dramas (with a little morbid and hilarious humor thrown in) of the late 90s that gives an up close and personal look at Los Angeles nightlife, dating and of course sex. 8 people, 4 females and 4 males, take you through a single night in their lives, and even though they may seem very vapid and stereotyped at first, they are 8 very interesting people.They are at that age, in their 20s-30s, when they are unsure of what they are looking for: just fun sex? just a nice companion? their mate for life? Rick (the gorgeous Sean Patrick Flanery) is an attorney who could have everything he wants, only he is not sure what he wants. One thing is for sure, he is lonely. "If you fall in love with everyone you #@!%, you would not be this lonely." He is about to embark on a new relationship with a legal clerk named Jane (probably one of the underused Amanda Peet's best performances). Rick's friend Sean (the equally gorgeous Brad Rowe) is a nicely dressed yuppie, almost old fashioned in his chivalry.Like Rick, Sean is unsure of who he is or what he wants. I found Sean to be the most interesting of the males. He tries to project a certain image or personality, but he has so many secrets that he seems uncomfortable with himself. He even has a dark side, and is very uncomfortable with that as well. During this fateful night on the town with his friends, he has sex with one of the girls, Emma (an actress I've always enjoyed, Sybil Temchen, who looks just a tad like Mira Sorvino), but even though it's no doubt a pleasurable (a long, graphic but not gratuitous 10 min. scene) experience, both parties immediately regret doing this and part company. Their sex was influenced by sudden loneliness and alcohol, and the next day, Emma examines her habit of drinking too much and carrying around a wine bottle rather than just a glass.Her friend Whitney (one of my idols, Emily Procter) is a silicone enhanced but very warm and caring blonde who works as a cocktail waitress at the club they frequent. Whitney was probably the most interesting of the females. She, like the character Callie Dusquense of CSI Miami, is a very strong and confident personality who actually DOES seem to know what she wants. Almost male in her viewpoints, she doesn't want every guy she brings home to be attaching himself emotionally to her. She doesn't want to wake up and find that some guy she only wanted sex from is making himself comfortable in her house, talking about commitment, or "eating my cereal". An adventurous woman, she hooks up with the male most like herself, Trent (a hilarious Ron Livingston, who actually became more gorgeous after these mid-late 90s films). Trent is another character who is pretty blunt about what he's looking for. "It's not a wedding band." Whitney and Trent are probably the only 2 characters who truly enjoyed the night, because neither of them are really looking for "love".The 2 who end up absolutely NOT enjoying their night are Michael (yes, he's gorgeous as well: Jerry O'Connell), a pro football star and Sara (Tara Reid, an actress I liked in all these 90s movies...before she turned into a tabloid. Honey, seriously, why did you think you needed implants???!!!) After dancing naughtily all night and having a violent brawl with the henchman of some actor, the 2 end up in Sara's apartment, and suddenly there are serious accusations of rape flying around.The search for the truth leads to an inevitable "battle of the sexes". It's impossible to tell which party is the liar. The truth about these people's unhappiness and emptiness is revealed, and the strength of friendship is put to a hard test.The end is ambiguous, which is realistic. It's hard to say what the moral of the story is, except that it is a lonely world, and in their quest to find whatever they are looking for, love, commitment, fun, companionship or just hot sex, often times the search can end in disappointment, regret and even more loneliness. In the case of Michael and Sara, it was hatred, or perhaps it was morning-after regret. In the case of Sean and Emma, it was self-loathing and regret. In the case of Trent and Whitney, it was good fun and nothing more. In the case of Rick and Jane, well, that was especially sad. They seemed to click and match very well, and things looked promising, but the terrible event involving Michael and Sara ultimately drove a wedge between them.This isn't everyone's favorite kind of film, but it is mine because it really made me have to think about each character and each motive. I'd give it an A+.
bdonut
Well, its starts off kind of interesting as we follow 4 guys and 4 gals into this club...but then it takes a stupid twist and becomes a movie about a rape. Sorry, this just did not work at all. The setup was all wrong. Not that things can spiral out of control in real life like this but the way they ran the voiceovers, the character intros, the humor (Ron Livingstone going on in his golf gear) etc., you felt they were setting you up for a romantic comedy or a look at the mores of "youth." It lost me totally. Basically, two movies in one never works. What can I say? This flick had a good idea where it was going then got derailed along the way.
