If I'm not mistaken, this was the first movie which involved sex among singles and the scare of the AIDS epidemic, presented as a comedy. I found it quite funny and somewhat educational, starring a couple of underrated actresses.

"Casual Sex?" is about Stacy and Melissa, played by Lea Thompson (Back to the Future) and Victoria Jackson (TV's Saturday Night Live), two single women in their 20's looking for a decent and caring relationship while vacationing at a health spa.

Both girls narrate the picture, each of who carry very different sexual histories. However, both are now scared about relating to men without the use of sex liberally, since AIDS has now reached epidemic proportions.

Thompson is absolutely perfect as Stacy. She projects a classy, fun loving late eighties gal, without coming off as a slut. Jackson gives the only lengthy screen role I've ever seen her in, which she does very well. Her voice and dumb-found expression adds to her character greatly. She has a handful of moments, revealing the woman has a good amount of talent. Her best scenes are among those deleted and listed on the DVD release.

Jerry Levine (Born on the Fourth of July) makes an appearance as spa employee Jamie, Melissa's love interest.

Of course, the breakout character is Vinny "The Vin Man," performed by Andrew "Dice" Clay (The Adventures of Ford Fairlane) in his first decent movie role. For the most part, Clay played his same onstage stand-up character "The Dice Man." However, when his character softened and showed a more human side, Clay showed some depth as an actor.

Director Genevieve Robert made this her only effort calling shots, which turned out to be a great one. Her sense of space to allow timing to run the comedy of the show was great. There were a couple awkward visual beats, but for the most part, her job was well done.

Writers Wendy Goldman and Judy Toll wrote a very subtle comedy, with sharp dialogue from a very female perspective, without being offensive to men in general. After this picture, both women made small careers for themselves as actors and TV comedy writers.

Overall, even though the story involved the fear of AIDS, it was far from being an AIDS movie. This is one of those rare pictures which focuses on LIVING with AIDS instead of dying FROM AIDS. I think for a gentle laugh, "Casual Sex?" is one to go rent.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?