Very realistic if you see the film. In terms of premise, you wonder how "realistic" applies to a happily married heterosexual mother of two in New Jersey without a GED who winds up making love to her best female friend and realizes that she is a mathematical genius alone but strong at the end of the film.But it does work, because these people are real, at least for two hours or so, and we can feel that in Lilli and Courtney's acting there isn't a con; after a heterosexual friendship leads to characters making love, there are more than enough hints that this is happening in the real world. For instance: Neither woman, upon leaving their spouses, knows how to balance a checkbook, because they were never taught to, rather Juile (Taylor's) son, helps them because he just learned it in school. And perhaps more importantly, the characters don't see each other as villains or heroes or plot devices. These characters have known each other for a long time, and will continue to do so. Julie's husband is loving if blind to her needs, while Love's character's boyfriend really just sees her for sex. When each woman realizes they are love with one another, it isn't treated like the sex scene from "Bound": they are, after finding out about their love, scarred of this leap, but true -- and here's the key -- to their characters -- the women make love in a brief scene that's more about tenderness between them than getting any sort of reaction out of an audience. Inbetween the growth and eventual disintegration of their relationship, each scene matters because it cares about the characters. Even Julie's last moment with her husband is taken with the same form of tenderness between former lovers and friends.Julie isn't a genius overnight, either. It was latent, just like her homosexuality (or bisexuality or whatever you want to call it) -- she read books, educated herself by watching scientific based programs on t.v., etc. and grew up denying her own intelligence because she didn't believe she had it. The story is essentially Juile's: a closed off woman from the world at large who grows to believe in herself. If you complain the ending is ambiguous ... well, isn't life?

Hoboken housewife and mother of two in her late thirties has very little education but is actually a closet physics nut; she kicks her husband out of the house when he makes fun of her ambition, to eventually become a computer scientist. Unreleased theatrical drama made the film festival rounds in 2002 but never picked up a distributor. While it doesn't have the scope (or budget) of something like "Good Will Hunting", it does have something more intricate and substantial: a leading character who is complicated and yet ordinary--determined and hopeful, but also naive. Lili Taylor is exceptionally confident in this role and she pulls off some tricky dramatic moments with grace. As her neighbor and best friend, Courtney Love is also very natural and appealing, and Spalding Gray does nice, low-key work as a teacher. The screenplay (by playwright Wendy Hammond, based on her play, and director Bob Gosse) certainly tackles a lot of issues, but the straightforward handling never allows the narrative to stumble (only in one or two scenes does it feel like it is overreaching, and a scene where Taylor's son cusses out mom's friend seems to come too early in the film and confuses us). Released on DVD by the gay-based entertainment division Here!, the movie has been tagged as a lesbian drama due to the ensuing close relationship between roommates Taylor and Love, however this theme is also handled quite unobtrusively, without any sign of cynicism or sensationalism; what the intimacy resolves (and what it soon leads to) is heartbreaking without being melodramatic or sentimental. Of course, it's a stretch to find that a barely-educated, low-income mother of two just may be an unsung genius, but Hammond and Gosse help us to believe it could happen in just this way. Their faith in the character helps us realize anything's possible and attainable. *** from ****

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie about a possible lesbian love affair with a best friend, but I was pleased with its subtlety and positive turnaround ending.Julie Johnson is a middle-aged housewife with two kids and a husband who's a policeman by day, sports-fanatic by night. After years of living a redundant life with her husband making her decisions about what she can and can't do, she takes a leap of hope to jump-start her interests into a career but, more than anything, to take control of her life for a change and learn more about herself and her surroundings. Through these changes, she takes more and more chances, pushing her lust for a newfound way of life through her best friend, Claire, and transforming her interests to include a deep love for Claire herself. Now she must decide what to do with her friends, her New York surroundings, her children, her husband, her love for science, and her future with a woman who may not choose to live this way with Julie forever.I thought the entire film flowed very well, and it really highlighted the main points in Julie's life that she wished to change along the way. It shows a different view on homosexual (and generally modern) relationships and the struggles for individual desires after years of suppressing them into secrets only. It showed the problems that can arise by having a "lesbian" for a mother out of such a previous relationship with a man in the home for his children, but it didn't state clearly by the end whether or not Julie necessarily had a preference for one gender or the other, which, IMO, helped the film see that Julie's only true wish was to be genuinely loved and trusted that she'll do what's right and good for her life.I didn't necessarily think that Courtney Love should've been the love interest (especially because they gave her pretty weak lines and hardly any real direction), and I think you just have to be a fan of hers for who she is more than her abilities as an actress. I thought the subtle score (and possibly songs) by Angelo Badalamenti were a nice touch, but I would've loved to hear more of the bombast quality of his previous works for David Lynch movies in this film.. I also didn't like how the children were written into the script, and often "switched sides" from the son liking his mother Julie's decisions initially and then flip-flopping back and forth (same with the daughter), but I could see how that might be that tumultuous of a time for them to settle on one side or the other.Wrapping it up, I gave it 6/10 stars. It was easily more than an average venture into an alternative lifestyle movie, but it could've used more of the style from the director or composer to boost more of a steadfast quality into Julie to attain her dreams. Go check it out if you want to be exposed to a different way of being, and get yourself some tips about life decisions like these from this film.

I enjoyed this movie! Both actresses were in top form, and both the plot and the script were incredibly realistic (which can be a refreshing break from all of the "out there" Hollywood story lines).Briefly, it's about a woman who discovers that she doesn't want to be an uneducated house wife for the rest of her life, so she decides to pursue her dream of going to school. It's quite inspirational.I really enjoyed the main actress in six-feet-under. She's very genuine and "real-seeming." Courney-love, despite all the bad press she's received through the years, was superb. She's an excellent actress (and I'm pretty picky).Bottomline: If you like indie films, definitely check it out!