February 26–March 5, 1998

movie shorts

Kissing a Fool

David Schwimmer—you know, the pompous Friend—plays a skirt-chasing sportscaster who's having trouble with the idea of committing to his fiancée (Mili Avital), and gets the idea that she might be having trouble as well. So he asks his best friend (Jason Lee) to seduce her, the idea being that if she resists, Schwimmer will know she can stay faithful. Like Chasing Amy, in which Lee also played best friend to a complete asshole, Kissing a Fool is a love triangle between three people with the combined appeal of wet cabbage. The twist is that the bland, vacant Lee is the love interest here, a fact which writer/director/Schwimmer pal Doug Ellin isn't above driving home by making him a shy novelist with a rough breakup in his recent past (awww). As a first-time screenwriter, Ellin neatly falls into every pit, from the pointless frame-story to the gag cut-away. At least the frame gives the ever-splendid Bonnie Hunt a chance to liven up the picture for a few seconds at a time.

—Sam Adams