Review of Casual Sex? (1988) by Catherine D — 23 Apr 2011

Adapted from a play, we meet Stacy (Lea Thompson) and Melissa (Victoria Jackson) on the dark backdrop of a theater stage. These two sensible women lead us through their sexual histories before embarking on the matter at hand - they need to avoid any more casual sex in an age when it's become dangerous due to a barely mentioned fear, HIV. So they head down to a health resort to meet healthy guys and always use condoms. Stacy has her eye on a trainer named Nick, while Melissa's got a crush on resort employee Jamie. Meanwhile, their fellow guest Vinnie (Andrew Dice Clay) makes his best New Jersey attempt at Stacy, and a self-centered psychologist decides to utilize Melissa. When Melissa decides to bail and heads for the bus station, Stacy takes Nick back to L.A with her to meet her. But Jamie rescues Melissa from the bus station, and Stacy ends up realizing life outside the resort with Nick is not la vie en rose. Armed with a grand pink cadillac, Stacy rushes back to the resort and meets a newly sensitive Vinnie, and ends up giving him a lift back prior to getting rid of Nick. Who would've guessed they'd both find their soulmates at a health spa?

Born into the AIDS scare era in 1988, this film has little left to recommend it. Several scenes actually play like a public service announcement, and it's a shame that these two comediennes have to be toned-down in order to promote the film's blaring message. The 80s strike back in their full glory of hair-dos, clothes, and music, and the story is so contrived as to be uninteresting. And doesn't it strike anyone as odd that the employees keep hitting on these women?

Overall, an outdated, predictable and downright laughable film about two women abandoning casual sex for true love that fails to rise above being a filmed version of a mediocre stage play.