I would have given this film a 3 but I figured a 1 would be more effective in bringing the average rating down. I initially rented this movie because of its high rating and I just want to contribute a low score to prevent others from renting it solely because of its high rating.<br /><br />Yes, I am sure lesbians have cathartic moments where they must face the reality of their inner soul / sexual predisposition. However, I found this movie to be be incredibly predictable and terribly arduous. The director could have edited half the movie without losing any appeal. Also, I am not sure if the writer/producer/director are gay (nor does it really matter) but the tone of the movie was very biased. The incredibly sensitive poet/teacher/photographer and soon to be lover of Annabelle has a rather disappointing love scene with her boyfriend. It was a cold and rather mechanical scene filmed above the boyfriend while he is literally "pumping" the conflicted lesbian teacher with the fervor and passionate skill of a mongoose. She, without his knowledge, makes obvious expressions of tolerant disdain for his efforts (amazingly enough, my face was mimicking her expression of disappointment throughout the movie).<br /><br />Of course, eventually we come to the climactic love scene between the no longer conflicted teacher and Lovely Annabelle ... BIG surprise -- The love scene between them is passionate, romantic and full of heat. A complete reversal ... Shocking how ingenious the director was.<br /><br />Why did this annoy me? Well, set aside the fact the characters are lesbians. But, could they not have made the male patsy less mechanical and more skilled in bed? She could have been on top, he could have been pleasuring her, more foreplay, etc. It would have been more effective this way because it would have showed that it was not the lack of creativity and variety in bed that made her feel uneasy with her boyfriend -- But it was just the unfortunate fact that he was born a male. The homosexual community does not have the patent on great sex.<br /><br />Oh, I almost forgot one of the ridiculous subplots. Annabelle is apparently the daughter of a female Senator with aspirations for the presidency and she sends her trouble-maker daughter to the Catholic school which employs the Poetry teacher. In the end, they are caught and the teacher is arrested by what look like government officials. This was RIDICULOUS and unrealistic. If this were the case, the event would have been quietly put under the rug, so to speak, and Annabelle would have been transferred by her mother, the "evil" goal oriented Senator. The end was even more distasteful and improbable than the movie.<br /><br />Additionally, did anyone even feel uncomfortable with the age difference and the fact that an authority figure (a teacher) had a sexual relationship with a student? Many people seem enamored and blinded by the story of the relationship between "Simone" (she looks like she is at least 43 years old) and lovely 17yo Annabelle. Although the character was presented as an intelligent and "worldy" 17yo girl, this story could have been more effective if Annabelle was a college grad student and Simone were the young poetry professor. This will also eliminate the ridiculous sub-plot about Annabelle's Senator mother. <br /><br />Oh gosh, and why does every young lost love story have to include an ex-lover that committed suicide (simone's ex lover that she still mourns for) ... Doesn't being gay and a teacher in a catholic school provide enough angst and development for the character? How much must a woman suffer to pull the audience in? Too too cliché.<br /><br />So much more to say, but I think I feel relieved of the 96 minute burden I just experienced.