Stream Hodsell (Bonnie Root) is a bright down-to-earth girl transplanted to New York City from Vermont. While she’s waiting to hear back from Harvard Stream’s first sexual encounter with her high-society boyfriend (James Roday) leaves her — well underwhelmed. And as coming of age stories go tales told by upper-class girlfriend Jenny (Gaby
Hoffman) — who allegedly climaxes all the time — spurs Stream to pursue the elusive “orgasm” for herself. Along the way she trades in her boyfriend for a quiet brooding type (Ryan Reynolds). The only thing unpredictable in this plot was finally figuring out what the title meant.
For a small teen film “Coming Soon” features many old-school talents whose performances lend the movie much-needed credibility: Mia Farrow as Stream’s flighty ex-hippie mother (who sports double the red hair as Carrot Top) Ryan O’Neal as her vain father Spalding Gray as a high school adviser and Peter Bogdanovich as Farrow’s new boyfriend. Yasmine Bleeth is hilarious in a brief role as O’Neal’s new young love. Root and Reynolds are quietly affecting in their fumbling love story but Hoffman’s spoiled rich girl completely rubs the wrong way.
Director Colette Burson delivers a few laughs in her directorial debut but the film can’t make up its mind whether it wants to be a sex farce or a romantic comedy. Some jokes work (Stream figures out she hasn’t climaxed yet when she accidentally goes too near Jenny’s jacuzzi jet stream) but Burson wears them out by running scenes too long.
