Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) - Memorable quotes:
Josh: You know Stein, why don't you cut yourself a break. It's obviously not the time to be meeting someone anyway.
Jessica: [sarcastically] Really? What? Not the season?
Josh: No. It's just because you're clearly not open to it.
Jessica: Excuse me? I'm sorry. How would you know?
Josh: Well, I do have a little history to draw from. But even if I didn't, you've known Charles here for about an hour and in that time you've dismissed a panoply of men based on factors as reductive as a linguistic misstep, a different view from yours on going dutch, a kind reaction to your legendary lateness, and a genuine interest in yoga. You know, I think it was Anais Nin who said, 'We don't see things as they are. We see things as we are.' Generally I'm not much of a Nin fan, but I do feel that bit sums you up to a 'T', Stein. So I don't think the problem's with these poor men, these freaks and morons, as you put it. I think the problem is with you.

ye-ah. I like this Josh character & he delivers that well. I like him throughout the movie. which I note because this actor - Scott Cohen, played Max on Gilmore Girls who I think I started out liking but he now seems pretentious ~ smarmy.
I think Amy Sherman-Palladino likes working with him, and I think I read he will be in her new show The Return of Jezebel James, with Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose, so it seems it could be very good. and maybe he will be likeable in it. more Josh Myers than Max.

Josh: [after confessing his feelings to Jessica, he kisses her] So I guess I'd like to know if you have some sort of reaction to this. More specifically, do you want to have dinner with me tomorrow night? nice [she doesn't respond at first, and Josh adopts a look of defeat and embarrassment] Well, if you'll excuse me, I definitely need another drink.
Jessica: [she stops him] No, wait. I'd love to have dinner with you, but I can't.
Josh: What? Not the season?
Jessica: [laughs nervously] No. I mean I cant have dinner with you because I'm with Helen.

Jessica is acted pretty well, and a believable & not simple character. annoying & snobby, but is redeemed by being thoughtful & sometimes openly attentive as in the scene above where she seems to listen well to Josh.

but the scene that stands out in making this movie more than fluff is Jessica's mother to her, sitting outside, remembering how Jessica quit a play in school because she did not think her costar was good enough -- and then the person in her role was not good, and the guy was actually "quite excellent" (jessica: "yes he was, he was really good" - it's this kind of acknowledging comment that saves jessica stein from being a total snot).
and then mom says, after tears welling up, and a false start:
"I think she's a very nice girl." oh- what a good mom.
yay for this actress: Tovah Feldshuh .... Judy Stein

Amazon.com: Profile For Michael Greenwaldt: Reviews:
The best romantic comedy of 2002! Very witty & sweet!, December 18, 2002
KISSING JESSICA STEIN
They were able to take a controversial topic and create a light and fun film that can be enjoyed by almost anyone. Now that's not to say that it doesn't have its serious moments, one particular scene involving Jessica and her mother, Judy (Tovah Feldshuh), was quite touching. I loved how the simple line 'I think she's a very nice girl' was able to make such an unbelievably huge impact. yeah great mom. mothers.
In 'Kissing Jessica Stein' Jessica is shocked when her date with Helen ends up being one of the best dates she's ever been on. She finds herself confused because she has finally found someone she 'clicks' with, except it's not a man, and she's not a lesbian.
I hope the Academy remembers it come Oscar time because it deserves to at least be nominated, especially for "Best Original Screenplay," which it deserves to win. it is well written isn't it.
It had the feel of a Woody Allen movie yes the character of Jessica is very WoodyAllenish, broadcasting her (rather conventional) neuroses. I didn't even mind the ending, which a lot of people seem to have a problem with. At first I was disappointed when it started going in that direction because there's a spot where it could have ended perfectly (you'll see what I mean when you see it) I guess meaning where the girls happily move in together, but in the end I thought they pulled it off really well. It ended realistically and on a happy note. agreed, the ending makes it better to me. Helen says no look what we have is a friendship. and Jessica later running into Josh, saying "She dumped me. she wanted to be with someone a little more ... a little more gay."

Movies Other| good rvw BY PETER KEOUGH:
then Jessica comes across an ad with her favorite Rilke passage ["It is not inertia alone that is responsible for human relationships repeating themselves from case to case, indescribably monotonous and unrenewed: it is shyness before any sort of new, unforeseeable experience with which one does not think oneself able to cope. But only someone who is ready for everything, who excludes nothing, not even the most enigmatical will live the relation to another as something alive."] — just her luck that it’s in the women-seeking-women section. On the other hand, what does she have to lose?
A slate of made-for-TV stereotypes to begin with. Played by co-writer Jennifer Westfeldt, Jessica seems an uncomfortable combination of Diane Keaton ditziness and Woody Allen anality — she’s her own dysfunctional relationship. heh. and that's an accurate combination-description.
As Jessica’s relationship with Helen flourishes, she grows secretive, unable to let any of her friends and family know what she’s gotten herself into.
Which gives them the opportunity to find out for themselves — and in the process grow into something more than caricatures. As when Jessica’s mom, played with sly precision and tender brassiness by Feldshuh, embraces her daughter and says, 'I think she’s a very nice girl.' She’s more than that, of course, and this is more than a very nice movie.