The Watermelon Woman

There isn't space enough for me to delve into this ambitious movie's plot, so instead I'll attempt to summarize its insane agenda: it's a fake documentary, a lesbian romance, a meditation on racial and sexual politics in Hollywood's golden age, a meditation on racial and sexual politics today, a making-the-low-budget-movie comedy, a personal essay film, and about six other things besides. (The title refers to an invented black actress of the 1930s, with whom filmmaker Cheryl Dunye, playing "herself," becomes obsessed.) Much of this is skillfully done, and I applaud Dunye's courage and fortitude, but her reach exceeds her grasp--while The Watermelon Woman works marvelously in bits and pieces, the film as a whole is utterly incoherent. Plus, its primary source of inspiration, as explicitly noted in the film itself, is Rose Troche's 1994 inept lesbian hit Go Fish, and consequently this film suffers from many of the same flaws that plagued Troche's effort, notably terrible acting and aggressively literal dialogue. Not bad, but it'd be nice to see a lesbian film with something stronger than good intentions to recommend it. Optional. (M. D'Angelo)