Bliss (1997)

Joseph (Craig Sheffer (Nightbreed, A River Runs Through It)) and Maria (Sheryl Lee (Vampires, Twin Peaks) get married but they soon realize that it’s not working out that well.  Joseph puts up with a lot of shit like Maria sleeping with a fly swatter and calling him constantly at work but the thing that puts him over the edge is Maria admits that she fakes her orgasms.  In order to try and fix their marriage Joseph seeks out the help of a sex therapist named Baltazar (Terrance Stamp (Wall Street, Superman II)).  They work together to find out what’s wrong with Maria and why she’s fucking crazy. 

Bliss is a curious picture for several reasons.  First of all it’s the only thing that writer/director Lance Young has ever done.  It’s actually put together and shot just fine though.  Based purely on the subject matter I wouldn’t think that this was someone’s first job as both writer and director.  The story feels like more of a veteran’s territory because they would have the clout to get away with it.  The way this movie talks about sex and portrays it is gonna turn a lot of people off and/or they’ll turn their nose up at it.  But we’re better than that here.  Sex is a subject that we can handle just as well as any other right?  Right.

The second reason of curiosity lies in the casting.  I only know Craig Sheffer from The Program and Sheryl Lee from Vampires (but I didn’t put 2 and 2 together while I was watching it and only realized after the fact).  I know Terrance Stamp from The Real McCoy (where he does a hilariously thick southern accent and helped to make that movie pretty fun) and The Limey (where he does an awesomely thick English accent but unfortunately through no fault of Stamp himself, the movie sucked).  So basically it doesn’t star anyone huge unless you’re a big Terrance Stamp fan (which I think I just became).

Everyone involved does a good job by the way especially the leads.  Joseph truly loves Maria but can’t understand why she’s so frigid and distant.  He’ll do anything to see that she gets better including changing who he is.  Stamp does his usual stoic I’m-wise-as-all-shit thang.  He’s perfect as the mentor and healer because with his gray hair and English accent you don’t doubt for a second that he knows what he’s talking about.  But Lee had the hardest role as Maria and did the best job.  You can tell that she loves Joseph just as much as he loves her but she doesn’t want to get too close.  If she feels threatened she’ll turn on him in a second and say that she doesn’t care about him.  She also gets extremely worried about stuff like she’ll empty the cupboards and caulk the shelves because she saw some ants.  At the end Maria gives a heartbreaking and shocking monologue that’s delivered very well.

The third reason why this is curious is the way sex is talked about in this film.  Almost the entire movie is sex talk.  Joseph describes how he has sex with Maria, Baltazar tells Joseph how he wants him to touch Maria and he also mentions the nine levels of a female orgasm.  This is probably the most sex talk that I’ve seen in a movie but I can think of a few others that might come close.  The thing is that I didn’t get used to it as the film went.  They keep ratcheting up the conversations so it remained stimulating throughout.

There are some funny things here as well like the exercises that Baltazar has Joseph do (they hang upside down and breathe through one nostril at a time), Joseph learns to love himself and tells strangers on the street and he also starts giving others sex advice.  The way that Joseph and Maria’s regular therapist describes Baltazar is hilarious too saying that he “practices on the edge of the law” and that he hasn’t been prosecuted because no one is willing to testify.  They make him sound so badass and like such a renegade but when you meet him and hear what he has to say he just sounds like a nice guy that wants to help people.

While I was watching this thing it reminded me of Nine Months a little.  There’s a couple that’s having relationship problems, they go to see a wacky doctor/therapist that helps them, the story focuses more on the husband’s point of view, the husband changes his life and who he is because he loves his wife, he’s got a fancy sports car and Craig Sheffer and Hugh Grant even have the same haircut.  The only difference (and I do mean the only one) is that in this movie the wife is emotionally and mentally scarred.  It’s sort of like a twisted version of Nine Months.  So that means that I enjoyed it.  It’s a fairly simple film that has a sweet message that love (and some therapy) can overcome anything.  Everyone has their own problems but they can be worked out if both partners give it a shot and sex can be used to help them.  Unfortunately there aren’t any thrills but it’s got plenty of sex.  So I think this one’s worth checking out.

Sex Scenes: Three and a half.  The half is for a scene where Joseph fingers Maria.  Also, two of the sex scenes aren’t straight up exactly because they’re intercut with other non-sex scenes but I’m counting them anyway.

After Sex Scenes: Two.

Strange Cameos: Spalding Gray (The Killing Fields, Straight Talk) plays Joseph and Maria’s regular therapist.   

Lois Chiles (Coma, Moonraker) plays…someone.  I remember seeing her name when the credits rolled in the beginning but had trouble spotting her.  I think she’s the librarian that Baltazar has a crush on.

Casey Siemaszako plays Joseph’s somewhat childish friend and colleague.  He’s had bit parts in a bunch of stuff like Stand by Me, the first two Back to the Futures, The Phantom (1996) and Oz (which I don’t remember).