Lesson: Learned

With its (no pun intended) off-beat subject matter, this film - written and directed by none other than Bobcat Goldthwait - subversively poses the question: is complete honesty, particularly about one's past, necessary in a relationship?

To serve his ends, Bobcat creates a really absurd and disgusting 'secret' for his main character, so it would be understandable for her love interest to be at first repulsed and then curious (he wanted her to do the same with his own dog, Steve). By the end of the movie, she has learned her lesson: complete honesty is not only unrealistic, it can destroy even the most promising relationships - at one point, Amy's boyfriend John, an aspiring writer, tells Amy's father that he would choose never getting published over not being with Amy for the rest of his life.

The film is very well acted (Melinda Page Hamilton especially shines), excellently written, with well-fleshed-out characters, not caricatures - even Amy's meth-crazed, deranged brother (hilarious performance from Jack Plotnick) rings true - and the overall tone is surprisingly restrained, considering Goldthwait's onstage persona and the strong possibility of easily going over the top considering the already-challenging subject matter.