Review of Feast of Love (2007) by Jiana W — 11 Jan 2011

A film that navigates through the sometimes-painful and rewarding terrain that is romantic relationships. The movie seems to try to tell its audience to take a chance when it comes to love, even though there is always the possibility of being heartbroken (either through blatant rejection or death.).

I could've done without the near-constant scenes of sex and nudity during the first half of the film. I got tired of seeing boobs and behinds. Once the writers seemed to get that all out of their system the film got a little better for me. I particularly liked Greg Kinnear's character, the incredibly nice but unlucky Bradley. At first his relationship with his first wife (Selma Blair) made me think of his character in "Little Miss Sunshine", a jerky know-it-all who I really wouldn't like for most of the film, but once that relationship went kaput he started to become more sympathetic. You felt sorry for a guy who adored these women but got nothing in return but rejection and heartbreak.

The plotlines seemed relatively realistic, except for the Katherine-Jenny one. I have a hard time accepting a relationship like that can start off so rapidly and so boldly, with the characters blatantly flirting with each other in public and Katherine, who has been married for nearly 7 years, seemingly not even thinking twice about starting something with this woman. Not even an idiot could miss their open flirting or Katherine hurrying to privacy whenever she receives a call. But we're expected to believe that Bradley would (and does) to his detriment. Also, the David-Diana-Bradley storyline was wrapped up a bit too easy and unbelievably nice given the fact that Bradley and Diana were married and he adored her. I find it hard to believe he'd become good friends with these two considering she basically cheated on him *the entire* time they were dating and then some. Oscar and Chloe were kind of cute and their relationship probably the most believable out of all of the ones portrayed here, save for Harry and Esther's.

Another thing that lowered the starcount for me is that I didn't like how two relationships in this movie were spawned out of adulterous affairs. Katherine and Jenny and Diana and David, all four started their romantic relationships together by cheating on the person they were married to. The film treats this as if it's okay. It acts as if there's no negative consequences besides mere heartbreak for the cheatee that comes with adulterous affairs. As if it's *okay* to sleep with someone you practically just met because somehow you feel as if that person is your "soulmate" instead of the one you made vows to. I think this is the second movie I've seen (or heard of at least) that makes light of adulterous relationships and tries to make the audience sympathize with cheaters. Cheating on a boyfriend or girlfriend is bad enough, but cheating on your spouse is even worse and this movie almost seems to say, "Oh, it's not that bad. They'll get over it. At least you found your soulmate. And just think: one day you might even become *friends* with your unfaithful ex and the person they cheated on you with! Oh, joy!".

Give me a break, Hollywood. Let's hope art doesn't imitate life in this regard. That aside, the movie has its good, enjoyable moments and it balances the several storylines very well.