Documentary Review My Husband, The Cyborg

My Husband, The Cyborg 

Directed by Susanna Cappellaro

Written by Susanna Cappellaro

Starring Susanna Cappellaro, Scott Cohen

Release Date February 3rd, 2025 

Published February 4th, 2025

My Husband, The Cyborg is a terrific documentary in that it is so very inviting. By that I mean, the film invites you into a conversation with it. Your mind can’t help but argue or challenge the movie, unless you agree with what’s happening, but then you are probably thinking of the possibilities it demonstrates for your own life, in a different conversation with the film. For me, it was a running argument with the protagonist of My Husband, The Cyborg, Scott Cohen, a frustrating human being who, though he is probably a fine person in general, drove me up a wall. 

My Husband, The Cyborg proceeds on the premise of filmmaker, Susanna Cappellaro documenting her husband Scott’s transformation into a ‘Cyborg.’ Scott is starting the process of enhancing his body for the future. The first step is getting a series of bolts in his chest, essentially piercings, which will be in place to hold a small microchip. This microchip has one function, it vibrates when Scott is facing magnetic north. It’s a vibrating compass. That’s it. According to Scott, he will now always know when he’s facing north, which I am sure is valuable information… somehow.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review Kissing Jessica Stein

Kissing Jessica Stein (2002)

Directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld

Written by Heather Juergensen, Jennifer Westfeldt

Starring Heather Juergensen, Jennifer Westfeldt, Scott Cohen, Jackie Hoffman, Tovah Feldshuh, Michael Ealy, Jon Hamm 

Release Date March 13th, 2002 

Published September 18th, 2002 

When it comes lesbian relationships in film, we generally get distracted by the sex stuff and the relationship aspect gets lost. That is not the problem with the comedy Kissing Jessica Stein. In fact you would be hard pressed to find many problems in this wonderful comic romance. Written by and starring Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt, and adapted from their stage play, Lipschtick, Kissing Jessica Stein is the non PC story of two straight women who begin a tentative lesbian romance. 

Helen (Juergensen) is an art gallery owner who has dabbled in bisexuality but is first glimpsed cheating on a jerk boyfriend in the middle of a gallery show. Helen is tiring of the meaningless sex and is exhausted of men so she places a personal ad seeking a woman. Helen's ad catches the eye of a copy editor named Jessica (Westfeldt) almost by accident. As Jessica and some friends are glancing over the personals they come across an ad in which there is a quote from Jessica's favorite poet. While Jessica's friends dismiss the ad after finding it's a women, Jessica finds herself strangely intrigued. In a move that totally goes against her conservative nature, Jessica answers the ad.

Helen and Jessica hit it off and thus begins a series of funny, sweet moments of a budding relationship. The film is well written and well acted. It's no surprise that Juergenson and Westfeldt, who have been doing this material for a long time, have chemistry unmatched by many straight romantic comedy couplings.

The supporting cast is as strong as the two leads, especially veteran actress Tovah Feldshuh as Jessica's mother. The role could have been a sitcom knockoff of a stereotypical overbearing Jewish mother. Instead, Feldshuh brings a wonderful calmness and ease to her performance and has one extraordinary scene with Westfeldt as she finally opens up about the new relationship that is funny, smart and touching.

Kissing Jessica Stein never gets overly caught up in the sexuality of Helen and Jessica's relationship, at least not in the sleazy B-movie way most lesbian relations are treated. Sex is an issue in their relationship but it isn't the only issue. While the ending left me cold, I still really liked Kissing Jessica Stein, one of the best comedies of the year.