Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser) gets caught dating both Grace (Gretchen Mol) and Philip (Justin Kirk). The movie flashes back to the time when she's dating Samantha (Julianne Nicholson). She's a Puccini opera loving New York writer. Her ex Nell (Tina Benko) and Vivian (Kate Simses) are advancing in their relationship. Samantha hates opera, questions her lesbianism, and breaks up with Allegra to go back to her former boyfriend Jeff. As Allegra resigns herself to be alone, she meets first Philip and then Grace. She sleeps with Philip. Then she sleeps with Grace without knowing that they're actually in a stale long-term relationship together.It's a quirky little rom-com. I love all the actors although Reaser may not be up to being a manic comedic lead. She's not quite big enough to fill the character's shoes. There are some light humorous moments that are kinda funny. The laughs are never big enough to rise up to hilarious. There is a little bit of an interesting take on lesbian relationship struggles. The irreverent tone adds up to a cute but strictly small little indie.

I was a little leery at first when I read the synopsis, but this is one movie I thoroughly enjoyed. The characters were interconnected, well chosen, and delivered good performances. However, I think the magic in this movie is the script and direction. As a gay person who loves gay themed movies, this one really stood out with a bizarre quad love story. People who found something in common with one person, whether they were alike or different. One of the things I liked most about the story had nothing to do with the main characters but the sushi chefs who added comedy at the right moment. I recognized the main male character from TRICK and I'm glad to see him in something else, his character free flowing style and intellect was the perfect counterpart for the main lesbian character to be mesmerized by. But we all too soon learn, she's easily mesmerized. Anyway, I say let's add this to our top 20 list gay movies that hits the A list as far as I'm concerned. Watch it, enjoy it.

Written and directed by Maria Maggenti, "Puccini For Beginners" is a tres chic romantic comedy set in a movie-spawned Manhattan where virtually everyone we meet is Caucasian, trendily upscale and sexually conflicted.The strained setup lands somewhere between a labored screwball sex farce and a recycled Woody Allen angst-fest: Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser) is an opera-loving, afraid-of-commitment lesbian who finds herself inadvertently and simultaneously dating both a man (Justin Kirk) and his longtime girlfriend (winningly played by Gretchen Mol). As Allegra bounces back and forth between her two oblivious paramours, the characters talk out the issues of their relationships as if they were channeling left-over bits from "Annie Hall" or "Manhattan." "Puccini for Beginners" is one of those small-scale independent features that thinks it's being smarter and more insightful about romantic relationships than it really is. Actually, after all those really sharp Woody Allen exposes on the same subject, very little in this film feels like fresh observation. To be truthful, with the exception of Mol's winsome Grace, most of the characters here are more annoying than they are appealing. Not only are the plotting and much of the writing too cutesy by half, but so is Maggenti's directorial style, which relies heavily on smart-alecky narration, freeze-framing, and dopey fantasy sequences to generate laughs."Puccini for Beginners" offers a few genuinely funny moments within its blessedly short 81-minute running time, but throughout we're plagued by the nagging and irreverent suspicion that the film might have been more accurately entitled "Puccini for Idiots."

I really wanted to like "Puccini for Beginners" but it is a heavily flawed film.1. It is not funny enough. I don't think I laughed out loud once and I only chuckled a few time.2. The main character is not sympathetic enough. She is cheating on both her boyfriend and her girlfriend.3. It steals too much from the Woody Allen films "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" but is not nearly as clever as it wants to be.4. There is hardly any opera music or reference to opera. With a title that contains the name "Puccini," I was expecting opera to play a bigger part.Despite that, there are some mildly funny parts and the cast is attractive, especially Gretchen Moll. I wish she had been in the film more."Puccini for Beginners" is not a really bad film but it is disappointing because it could have been much better. If you are looking for a good lesbian themed comedy, watch "Gray Matters." It was much funnier.