KISSING ON THE MOUTH

D: Joe Swanberg; with Kate Winterich, Joe Swanberg, Kevin Pittman, Kris Williams

Narrative Feature Emerging Visions

Rarely do we consider, when eyeing nudity on film, the awkwardness, even exploitation, of the unclothed actor. Kissing on the Mouth tackles that issue head-on by making its cast and crew the same in this exploration of post-college sex and relationships. They show an uncommon bravery in their willingness to capture on camera every inch of skin, to often extremely unglamorous effect: We see them engaged in the mundane tasks of shaving pubes, putting on deodorant or a condom, jerking off in the shower. The story – aimless Ellen (Winterich) has sex with her ex- (Pittman), while her roommate Patrick (Swanberg) pines from afar – dramatically doesn’t have much teeth. I suspect that’s sort of the point: The film’s primary function seems to be in lensing the banalities of everyday living. To that end, the film is successful; in providing illumination to those banalities, one will have to look elsewhere.

Dobie, 2pm

This article appears in March 18 • 2005.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...