THIS ONE'S 'BETTER THAN SEX' ... WELL, ALMOST.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

This is refreshing: a sex film that actually thinks that, for the most part, sex is good fun.

Not to take anything away from the harrowing psychological insights of such recent Euro soft-porn efforts as ``Intimacy'' and ``Fat Girl'' - and not to suggest that this relatively cheery Australian import dares to delve anywhere near as deeply as they do into emotional issues - but ``Better Than Sex'' does prove that a movie can maintain a good deal of honesty while exulting in an act most commonly committed for pleasure (except, evidently, by European filmmakers).

Set mostly in the lady's funky, downtown Sydney loft, broken up by frank, generally charming address-the-camera commentary from her, the lad and two phone trees' worth of their gossipy, confession-happy friends, the movie charts the development of a one-night stand gone horribly right: The participants enjoy each other so much that they can't refrain from spending the next several days and nights getting to know one other better.

Cin (Susie Potter) and Josh (David Wenham) meet at a house party, share a cab back and, just for fun, she invites him up at the last minute. The lovemaking is good - even though, in one of numerous sound details that should make everybody watching smile in recognition, she's ticklish in all the wrong places. And although he's got to get back to the mates he's visiting and she has a wedding dress to finish making for a friend, Josh says g'day the morning after but soon boomerangs right back to Cin's door.

He's a wildlife photographer who's been based in London for a number of years; of course, there's a return flight looming. She's not interested in serious relationships at the moment. She's got freckles. He's got stubble. They can't keep their clothes on around one another. And even though jealousy, fear of commitment, bad memories and silly misunderstandings intrude over the crucial 48 hours, the more time they spend together, the more they like it.

It helps that both actors are extremely personable (and refrain from getting sickeningly cute about it) and, while hardly deities, they're attractive enough to watch in frolic mode for long stretches of screen time. Fortunately for all, Wenham and Porter are both good at expressing powerful, sometimes conflicting feelings as accessibly as they offer their bodies to the camera.

``Better Than Sex'' is the first feature film by writer-director Jonathan Teplitzky. It's slightly autobiographical; like Josh, Teplitzky is a London-based Aussie who carried on a long-distance relationship with a Sydneyite. The film was more directly inspired by a circle of female friends who astonished the filmmaker with the candor they used to discuss sex and relationships. That is apparent in many of the movie's talk-to-the-lens sequences, but even more so in the casual openness that brings the loft scenes to life.

A music video and documentary veteran, Teplitzky is already developing a nice little cinematic style. He's got a knack for eccentric but telling close-up montages that serve the purpose of breaking up the primarily single-set monotony, but also insinuatingly enhance the film's intimacy. On the morning of Josh's imminent departure, for example, a great deal of emotional complexity is expressed with a few shots of dancing bare feet. Needless to say, it's one of the most sensuous moments in a film that suffers no lack of erotic pleasures.

``BETTER THAN SEX''

(Not rated: sex, nudity, language)

The stars: David Wenham, Susie Porter.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky. Produced by Bruna Papandrea and Frank Cox. Released by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Running time: One hour, 24 minutes.

Playing: Playhouse 7, Pasadena; Sunset 5, West Hollywood; Monica, Santa Monica.

Our rating: Three stars

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Their one-night fling leads Josh (David Wenham) and Cin (Susie Potter) to much more of a good thing in ``Better Than Sex.''