Heterosexual Jill is the 2013 sequel to Michelle Ehlen’s 2007 film, Butch Jamie. This sequel is of an extremely similar quality to Butch Jamie. But I gave Butch Jamie the benefit of the doubt and gave it a mixed review. However, diminishing returns and no visible creative growth means I can’t do so with Heterosexual Jill.
Butch Jamie ends with Jamie revealing to her sexually confused pseudo-girlfriend, Jill that Jamie identifies as a woman, not a man. This devastates Jill. And not for the obvious reason of a partner lying to her. But because Jill is trying desperately to be an ex-lesbian. She’d thought Jamie was a man who could help her get over her gay affliction. That’s where Heterosexual Jill picks up. Jill is in support groups for ex-lesbians. One of Jill’s fellow recovering lesbians suggests she meet up with her female ex to close the door on that chapter of her life. So, Jill meets up with Jamie and sparks still fly. Instead of getting over Jamie, Jill pushes them into another pseudo-relationship. This time, she essentially uses Jamie’s butch presentation as some sort of gateway to potential straight attraction.
The best part of Heterosexual Jill is Michelle Ehlen. Which should mean the whole movie works. Ehlen wrote, directed and starred in it. This is absolutely a correct case of a writer/director casting themself. Ehlen is presumably pretty close to her fictional counterpart, Jamie. But it’s not the similarities that make this the right call. It’s how naturally charismatic and likeable Ehlen is. The line between creator and character is obviously pretty fuzzy here. Suffice to say, I’d love to have a beer and hang out with either Michelle Ehlen or the fictional Jamie. They both seem like cool, funny people. If anything, the problem is Ehlen isn’t arrogant enough with her self-insert character. I want to see more Jamie. I don’t care about anyone else in the film.
Not caring is really what this movie boils down to. It’s fine, not offensive, but not notable either. There are good punchlines and moments of great comedic timing. As ever, thanks to Ehlen’s talent. But there’s a lot of filler in between these moments. And few characters other than Jamie succeed in having a comic moment that made me laugh. Sometimes, the comedy comes second to the premise of the film. It’s not a complicated premise, but Ehlen seems to want to explore it in depth. In an 80 minute comedy, maybe it’s better to just find the funniest bits.
I still admire Michelle Ehlen as a creative talent and onscreen personality. But I’m hoping to see some growth in her later films. Heterosexual Jill felt a little too much like a retread of Butch Jamie. Ehlen has a knack for comedy and I love seeing her onscreen. But she needs to find a way to fill in the gaps in her story in between the jokes. When that happens, she’ll be unstoppable.
Overall rating: 4.8/10
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