Finely-crafted romantic comedy indeed an 'Affair' to remember

By Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times

•	'A Family Affair' Not rated; mature themes, sexuality 100 minutes

For 13 tumultuous years, Lesnick's dry-witted Manhattan free-lance writer, Rachel Rosen, has been in an on-again, off-again romance with glamorous, capricious Reggie (Michele Greene), a Columbia professor of physics. With their latest breakup, Rachel has has had it with Reggie once and for all and heads to her parents' home in San Diego to begin a new life.

The Rosens, Leah (Arlene Golonka) and Sam (Michael Moerman), are a loving, supportive couple active in PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), especially the outspoken and dynamic Leah. A Jewish mother — but not a caricature — Leah is eager to see her daughter settled down with a nice girl.

After a series of dating disasters, Rachel discovers that the young woman Leah lines up for her really is something. Erica Shaffer's Christine in fact proves almost too good to be true. She's a lovely blonde, a massage therapist successful enough to afford a handsome home she is soon sharing with Rachel, who knows she has lucked out.

That things are happening so quickly, with Christine full of talk about converting to Judaism and having a wedding with Rachel, overwhelms Rachel, triggering long-buried issues of trust and loss; sexual orientation, refreshingly, is not among them.

Lesnick knows how to build her characters from within, and as a result this gentle film delivers an emotional wallop all the more potent for being unexpected. By the time "A Family Affair" is over, it illuminates what makes for a full life with a maturity that is by any measure exceptional.

Lesnick is an authoritative actress who knows how to draw solid support from her other key actors, including Barbara Stuart as Christine's elegant mother, who shows that an uptight WASP is not necessarily incapable of change.