''Just Looking'' is a 1999 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film. Directed by

Jason Alexander Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...

and written by Marshall Karp, it stars

Ryan Merriman Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his career at the age of ten and has appeared in several feature films and television shows. He is best known for a handful of Disney Channel original movies and for portra ...

Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...

Peter Onorati Peter Onorati (born May 16, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for his TV roles as Charlie Howell on ''Civil Wars'' (1991–1993), Mr. Scotto on '' Murder One'' (1995–1997), Stanley Pearson on ''This Is Us'' (2017–2022), and Jeff Mumford ...

, and

Patti LuPone Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...

. The film's plot follows Lenny, a teenage boy from the Bronx who is sent to Queens to live with his aunt and new uncle for one summer in the 1950s. Hormonal and curious about sex, Lenny's goal for the summer is to “witness an act of love”. The film premiered in October 1999 at the

Hamptons International Film Festival The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October a ...

and received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in October 2000.

Plot

Lenny is a 14-year-old boy living in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

in 1955. Like every teenage boy, he is totally fascinated with the concept of sex. But Lenny is too young and scared to actually "do it”, so he dedicates his summer vacation to the next best thing—seeing two other people in an “act of love”, which proves to be easier said than done. Caught in the act of spying, his mother Sylvia and stepfather ship him off to spend the summer with his Aunt Norma and Uncle Phil in "the country"—

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. Lenny's plan looks like a bust and his summer seems destined for boredom until he meets a whole new group of friends, young teens who dub themselves a "sex club." While his new friends don't actually do it either and instead just talk about sex, they have a lot more interesting information than what was available to Lenny back in the Bronx. Then Lenny meets Hedy, a gorgeous nurse twice his age and a former model for bra ads. Lenny is both smitten and inspired, and his goal for the summer kicks into high gear. Lenny's adolescent fascination with sex turns into a deeper story about growing up, betrayal, loneliness, and defining what an “act of love” really is.

Cast

as Lenny *

as Hedy *

as Sylvia *

as Phil *

Ilana Levine Ilana Levine (born December 5, 1963) is an American actress. She made her first on-screen appearance as Andrea Spinelli in the HBO comedy-drama series ''Tanner '88'' (1988), appearing in 11 episodes. Career Raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, Levine ...

as Norma * Richard V. Licata as Polinsky * John Bolger as Donald

Reception

''Just Looking'' has a 45% approval rating on review aggregate website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. In a mixed review,

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, “''Just Looking'' is a candy-colored, unabashedly sentimental movie whose characters, for all their flaws, are basically decent people doing their best in sparer times than today. As in so many retrospective rite-of-passage movies, the film's view of the past is the smoothed-out double vision of a grown-up reliving his own adolescence but with an adult perspective that discerns structure and meaning in events. The film's lovely performances embody this double vision”. However, he critiqued the storytelling and tone as “a little too sugary…to be a period classic like

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); ''Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ' ...

's ‘''

Diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a com ...

''’”. Marjorie Baumgarten of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' wrote though “''Just Looking'' won't become a mainstay of the prolific coming-of-age drama, but, as its title indicate, it may be worth a perusal—especially if you're tired of the way teen sexuality is portrayed in movies from the post-''

Porky's ''Porky's'' is a 1981 sex comedy film written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers in 1954 at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida. The film influenced many writers in the teen film genre and spawned two sequels: ...

'' generations”.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0162236, title=Just Looking *
Just Looking
' at

*
Just Looking
' at

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

American coming-of-age comedy films 1999 films 1990s coming-of-age comedy films Films directed by Jason Alexander Films shot in New York City Films shot in New Jersey 1999 comedy films American sex comedy films Films about puberty Films set in 1955 Films produced by Jean Doumanian 1999 independent films Sony Pictures Classics films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films