LOVE ISN'T FOREVER IN 'PUCCINI'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp

Film Critic

Give Maria Maggenti points for being different. It's not every romantic comedy that sports jokes about Philip Roth and Kant, debates the misogynist moorings of Italian opera and features a heroine bent on reshaping the way people look at sexual identity.

Granted, that doesn't sound very funny, but Maria Maggenti's "Puccini for Beginners" is a mostly agreeable comedy of the screwball sort, enlivened by some good acting, smart dialogue and an impassioned desire to stretch viewers' notions of lesbian love beyond what they see on "Desperate Housewives."

The movie's main character, Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser), lives in Manhattan, writes highly praised and commercially marginal novels, and fears commitment with every fiber of her being. Allegra has just been dumped by Samantha (Julianne Nicholson), ostensibly because Samantha is returning to her heterosexual ways with an old boyfriend. But it's clear that if Allegra had been willing to say the other L-word (the one that makes the world go round), Samantha would still be with her.

The breakup brings Allegra to tears, but she soon rebounds, playing both sides. Chance encounters with tweedy Columbia professor Phillip (Justin Kirk) and the wholesome, weepy Grace (Gretchen Mol) lead to Allegra's bedroom, which is busier than Grand Central Station.

Each relationship has its selling points. Allegra likes discussing philosophy and opera with Phillip and watching romantic movies like "Holiday" with Grace. The sex with both is mind-blowing, and it's clear that Allegra digs the primal power she holds over each person even as the whole fence-straddling thing confuses her.

"Going from salad to steak and back again isn't as easy as it seems," she tells the in-over-his-head Phillip.

There is, inevitably, a monkey-wrench: Allegra is unaware that Grace and Phillip just ended their own six-year relationship. Maggenti teases us with the moment of reckoning at the outset, then works her way back to it in a fairly breezy fashion. She doesn't rely so much on the novelty of the sex, which was the case with her 1995 debut, "The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love."

What hasn't progressed is Maggenti's directorial style, which can charitably be called loose. Some of her writing gambits fail, too, most notably her recurrent use of a Greek chorus of Japanese sushi chefs.

Sometimes scintillating, sometimes self-conscious, "Puccini for Beginners" is smarter than your average romantic comedy these days (what isn't?), but still probably best appreciated from the comfort of home with a bowl of microwave popcorn.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

[e-mail]

PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS - Two and one half stars

(Not rated: sex, language)

Starring: Elizabeth Reaser, Justin Kirk, Gretchen Mol.

Director: Maria Maggenti.

Running time: 1 hr. 22 min.

Playing: Laemmle's One Colorado in Pasadena; Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood.

In a nutshell: Screwball comedy messes with sexual identity. Smart, sometimes self-conscious and visually flat. Save it for a rental.

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Photo:

Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser, left) has an affair with Grace (Gretchen Mol) in "Puccini for Beginners."