Yet the two scenes are love scenes, one on a beach similar to From Here to Eternity, and another in a hotel room where the girl is to lose her virginity. Jeanne has quite a task on her hands, creating the illusion that these two petty and self-centered actors are lovers.
Jeanne accomplishes it primarily through intimacy and persuasion. She is literally a hands-on director, willing to nuzzle up to both actors to show them what is expected of them onscreen. She also has up close and personal conversations with each of them, particularly the male lead, whose inflated sense of importance and privilege must be carefully managed. The actress also has her problems. She's beautiful, but sullen and withdrawn.
Jeanne also relies heavily upon her confidant, assistant director Leo (Ashley Wanninger). One has the feeling that they have already worked on several films together, and their roles are fixed. He is always at her side, but says relatively little, letting her vent her frustrations, insecurities, and ideas. Jeanne tells her crew that she does not have sex with Leo. No one believes her, and they make only the socially necessary pretense of doing so.
How others will see it. The actress is ravishing, and there will be probably be some folks who will fast-forward through the "boring" parts to get to the next scene with her. The director is also attractive, and she is onscreen most of the time. That may be enough for those who admire her character or appeal.
But those who are looking for backstage insight to movie-making are likely to be disappointed. It is interesting that they are filming on the beach on a frigid day, but the idea of hiring a slew of extras, then dispensing with them seems wasteful. It is also costly to put the crew on ice for a couple of hours while the director choreographs the sex scene with her assistant director. This should have been done before full production began.
How I felt about it. This movie is the perfect example of marketing, which (in effect) is misleading potential viewers of what the film is about in order to enlarge its audience. The title promises sex, and provides it. But there's no comedy, or even romance. In fact, a more accurate title would be Sex is Rape. But try taking that title to the suburban multiplex.
Jeanne's attempt to bring meaning to the actor's conquest of the actress ends up changing that meaning. Instead of a long-awaited fulfilment of their desires, it is an unpleasant act that has her enduring (at best) his uncaring lust. In other words, it doesn't flatter either character, and it makes what would could have been a moving scene into the one that nearly ruined Saturday Night Fever (and was cut from many prints of that popular film).
But the director believes the scene is moving, and that is what counts during the production. Everyone wants to please the director but the spoiled lead actors, who want to do things their way or (better yet) not be there at all. But the director knows there is a higher power: the marketplace, which regards the majority of films with indifference.