Just One Time (1999)

This solid indie saw Lane Janger, producer of festival hits such as I Like It Like That and I Think I Do, take on his first writing and directing tasks with considerable success. Shot in the filmmaker's own East Village neighborhood with additional locations in Brooklyn and New Jersey, the film capably if unshowily captures a sense of urban community that cuts across age, race, and sexual orientation. The characters are well drawn -- and well played by a seasoned indie cast -- while the plot and dialogue remain believable even when the twists and turns are fairly easy to spot. As for the picture's titillating premise, it's interesting enough given the pop culture prevalence of two-girls-and-a-guy scenarios. But at heart, Just One Time is an old-fashioned screwball romance, one whose sweetly moralistic vision of monogamous love is upheld through all sorts of offbeat sexual situations. It's rare to see a film that throws together characters of such varied sexual outlooks without resorting to too many stereotypes. Still, the nicely written interactions between Anthony, his macho friends, and his would-be boyfriend seem somewhat unrealistic in their vision of tolerance; it's hard to believe such he-men would so easily befriend a gay boy even as ingratiating as Victor -- a part written especially for Guillermo Diaz, a veteran of Janger's films. Diaz has played essentially the same sweet street kid in films ranging from Nowhere to Party Girl, but here there's a deeper current of insecurity and an even sharper comic sense than in those earlier roles. Jennifer Esposito, meanwhile, provides a beguiling mix of tomboy sass, lipstick-lesbian glamour, and wake-up-call realism as the woman who puts a threateningly human face on Anthony's heretofore abstract fantasies. If the romantic leads ultimately seem a little boring compared to these gender outlaws, well, maybe that's because audiences so seldom see gay people portrayed as the victims rather than the instigators of sexual confusion. Aside from such sociological discussions, Just One Time remains a warm and well-observed little comedy. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide