Body Shots (1999)

I previewed this about two months ago, and I was impressed a little at the beginning but it faded throughout the rest of the movie! I thought Amanda Peet and Sean Patrick Flanery had good roles but the rest of the cast seemed like they were hanging on the bottom of a kite! I was a little disappointed in Tara Reid, I was expecting more than what I got. She has done such a great job in such films as "American Pie", "Cruel Intentions", and "Urban Legends", but somehow this movie just didn't suit her artistically at all. The movie was filled with pointless sex scenes, and the explicit sex scene with Brad Rowe getting his groove in the parking lot of a club. But, I think the whole rape issue in the film could've been left out because it was just boring and a waste of film. The whole he said-she said thing has been drawn out to make a movie a big mess, the only time it has ever worked was in "The Accused" and that's about it! I think "Body Shots" could've have been unmade but I mean it's a good movie to watch if you can't go to sleep but other than that, save your time, and read a book or catch up on what you've missed on "The West Wing".

Fmovies: Note: This review may reveal some plot points of the film

If you have a sadistic affinity for really bad movies then Body Shots is definitely the movie for you. This film attempts to be a raunchier Swingers for sex and the club scene and fails miserably at doing so.

As a funny take on the single life the movie might have put up a fighting chance but in repeatedly trying to be taken seriously the movie falls flat on its face. The entire package is worse than most adult movies I've seen and many instances I found my self wondering if that was what I was actually watching.

The basic premise (seriously) is as follows: Characters hang out together, go clubbing and have sex.The characters make comments in ramblingly nonsensical summations to the audience throughout the film in an attempt to dispel their ridiculously oversexed take on the meaning of life and then suddenly and without reason we become trapped in an after school special on date rape.

A cast including such up and comers as Tara Reid (American Pie) and Ron Brewington (Swingers and Office Space) could have provided redemption and though the acting was stellar throughout it was unbelievably wasted as no actor no matter how talented could have saved this story.

There is no comparison between Swingers or Go and Body Shots. The former represents film-making at it's best while the latter film-making at it's absolute worst.

Overall Rating: F (a generous offer)

Tonight, they're going to get it - and more. Four guys and four girls set off on a wild ride through L.A.'s nightlife, dressed to kill and ready to party hard. And as the drinking, dancing and sexual tension intensifies the night gets out control and ultimately changes everyone, forever.

It's 'Melrose Place' meets Sex and the City' when Sean Patrick Flanery, jerry O'Connell, Amanda Peet, Brad Rowe, Tara Reid, Ron Livingston, Emil Proctor and Sybil Temchen star in the sexy and provocative Body Shots.

Considering the rating of body shots, it has sent home a message to me I will take to the grave. You must see this movie. I have seen plenty of teenage based films, more than any other genre lately, this film is in its unique way a pleasant change. Yet, the cast make me feel right at home because of previous teen flicks they have appeared in.

I thought the cast blended perfectly. The character I knew immediately was Sara, played by Tara Reid. I loved her in American Pie and Urban Legend. In this flick her character was one I felt for. Then there was Jerry O'Connell who played footballer and tough guy Michael. I enjoyed his role in the 2nd instalment of the scream trilogy as the boyfriend of stalker victim, Sydney Prescott. Again his role in this one was someone who I felt sorry for even though the situation was probably his fault as much as anyone's. Amanda Peet is also another character that has recently hit the big and small screen. Her role of Jane was one of compassion and sensibility. She doesn't rush into things, which in today's world is very important. Amanda also stared in the funny film the Whole Nine Yards, alongside Hollywood legend Bruce Willis, a film I loved. She also stars in the TV series called Jack and Jill. Her character's name in the series is Jacqueline 'Jack' Barrett. I look forward to seeing her in more movies.

Each character in Body Shots gives their view on the main topic that we all grapple with in life - Sex. The men from the guys point of view and the women from the girl's point of view. They talk about everything and anything, and boast about every sexual experience they have had. Here is where this gets like one of my favourite TV shows, and a lot of other people's as well - Sex and the City. Body Shots has that feel to it in my opinion and I enjoyed the way the message was delivered. They're some scenes that relate to this topic which made me laugh and also sit up and take notice.

Then the film moves onto the night on the town, which for me showed how vulnerable people can let themselves go. In fact some characters say that losing or not being control is the best way to be. But in my opinion, the film shows that doing this is leaving yourself open for to many unknowns to happen. I have no problem with people having a good time, but don't let it ruin the rest of your life.

In the end this film for me has taught one thing. What makes a relationship is love and companionship, not sex. Sex completes it by making LOVE. To finish, the summary by the cosmopolitan magazine sums this one up for me.

'A sexy and sinful look at being single in the new millennium. Body Shots hits it dead on'.

I agree. Being single isn't such a hassle or shouldn't be a problem, it's how you handle being single and the risks you take to avoid being the odd one out. If you can, do yourself a favour and put this one on the top of your 'must see' list!

CMRS gives

Body Shots fmovies. Michael Cristofer has directed a cast of eight rising young stars in an intense drama, sort of a St. Elmo's Fire for the 90's. Cristofer's sophomore project (his first was HBO's `Gia') relates the experiences of this group of twenty-somethings during a night on the town. Initially, the men and the women gather separately preparing for the evening's mating ritual. Their sexual attitudes are gradually revealed throughout the film in verbal monologues to the audience. Using raw frank language, David McKenna (screenplay) introduces us to these youths and their search for sex and/or love. In one of the few humorous scenes, one of the women tells of a course given where young ladies can learn the art of giving oral sex. The evening continues at a singles club where the guys and gals pair off as they dance, get drunk on Jell-O shots, and brawl. The limited plot revolves around the possible date rape of Sara (Tara Reid) by Michael (Jerry O'Connell), a professional athlete. These scenes of the violent sex between this couple are shown Rashomon-like from the points-of-view of each participant. Rodrigo Garcia has photographed these events shading with darker hues during the first part of the film, and gradually turning to brighter scenes as the following morning begins. Music is an important element in both the club scenes and later as events turn ugly and violent. The film holds up a wide screen mirror to the emptiness in their lives, and yet leaves room for the hope that there may be redemption and fulfillment in some of their futures.

Since it's so far apart between seeing good acting, you really get surprised when it just kinda' sneaks up upon you and shows you what difference it makes.

Hollywood has spent years of making movies with bad dialog and acting whilst trying to cover it up with special FX, one-liners and retouched images of whatever actor/actress is the flava of the month. In `Body Shots' you get an incredibly knit-together group of Americas finest, all young actors that has yet to become too big for their own good. That is to say, they can still take on riskier projects that perhaps a bigger actor would be forced to turn down by their management because it would not `go with the audience'.

My personal thanks here to Sean Patrick Flanery and Amanda Peet, whom on earlier occasions showed me that they dared (or did not get any other offers, who knows :) commit to smaller and often much more rewarding ventures.

Tara Reid hasn't really impressed up till now with movies like American Pie and Urban Legends, but here she really gets a chance to act out. Usually, dramatic scenes are edited into smithereens, but all over `Body Shots' you get long, really intense sequences, with all of the cast-members showing their thespian caliber. I was also pleasantly surprised to be taken in by Chris O'Donnell's portrayal of the horny party-jock, since the last time I saw him was in the abysmal movie `Dungeons & Dragons' which kinda' put him on my black-list.

Ron Livingstone is just plain weird, and therefore, marvelous. (That Alka-Seltzer-bit is going to haunt me for a while :)

The editing is first class. In basically all movies, when you see a club-scene, you're not convinced at all. YOU know what it feels like to be in a steamy, crowded club, surrounded by (and being) people in various stages of intoxication. It's seldom portrayed with as much realism as it was here, much thanks to the clever editing. The layout of the story as a whole is also refreshing - not saying that messing up the timeline hasn't been done before - but the cut-scenes between the girls gang and the boys gang, the constant meta-perspective of the actors relaying their personal views of the meat market, and the flashbacks helps to make this movie what it is.

But what struck me most of all was the sex. I can't think about when I last saw a movie with such convincing sex-scenes. It was all the small things YOU do, but they never seem to be able to put into a movie. The sucking of fingers, the difference of intensity in kissing, the touching, the grabbing of genitalia. Now, I'm not saying that showing more always is the best way to portray sex. But when it's called for by the script and the context, then hell yes! And if you're going to attempt to make an honest movie about eight hormonally hyped twenty-something's, then most definitively so.

All in all, I was very impressed. The story has been done before, but not with such pathos. Movies like these make me hopeful of the future. Perhaps we're going away from only producing predictable storylines, uninspiring actors that deliver lines like they have a nail through their kneecap and dialog that you'd never hear outside of the screenwriters head.

There is one word for this film, WOEFUL.

This film follows the lives of 8 people (4 girls, 4 guys) and one night and its aftermath. It's a simple enough story. 4 girls meet the 4 boys, 1 boy 'rapes' 1 girl, 1 girl bonks 1 boy (who is really in love with the 'raped' girl), 1 boy is bonded by 1 girl and the other 2 are happy in their relationship. YUK.

It's a silly story, even sillier script and the characters are completely unlikeable (even in the remotest sense). It strikes me as a film someone decided to throw together after a night on a huge bong with a weekend to spare.

Don't bother watching this.