THE BOSTON PHOENIX
SEPTEMBER 15, 2000

Seven Girlfriends may seem like too many for one movie, but one kicks the bucket and another dumps our hero, Jesse (Tim Daly), before the opening credits of Paul Lazarus's breezy debut comedy have rolled. Spurred by the latter's parting observation that he doesn't know how to have a relationship, Jesse decides to check in on girlfrends one through five as he drives cross-country to number six's funeral, dropping in on them unexpectedly to ask what he did wrong… plays like Six Girlfriends and a Funeral, and it benefits from the large, talented female cast - among them Olivia d"Abo, Elizabeth Pena, and Mimi Rogers. It's an appealing fantasy for those who have loved and lost, and Lazarus's glib screenplay is spiced with piquant charm and subversive wit…

"… the movie is a wonderfully hilarious movie that never stops providing funny situations. Tim Daly provides an arrogant charm that pushes the film along quite nicely, and we are able to relate to a real person, not just a 2-dimensional flake. All of the supporting women give in great comedic performances, and there is a totally unexpected scene with Mimi Rogers that sent the audience in an uproar of laughter and disgust. This is also not a pg-13 film, while there are scenes of nudity and sexual situations, it is not thrown at you in the immature stylings of American Pie. The scenes are actually unexpected, and handled with finesse by the actors.

Right from the beginning, wacky romantic comedy Seven Girlfriends clues you in to its audaciousness, with a surprising opening sequence that effectively induces gasps as well as laughs. Not everything that follows is as wittily brazen, but the film scores enough grins to be a genuine audience pleaser. This Tim Daly starrer recently played at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, where it was awarded the jury prize for best world premiere.

Thematically if not stylistically similar to the 1979 feature Old Boyfriends, the film concerns a romantic crisis suffered by Jesse (Daly), a thirty-something chef despairing of his inability to sustain a committed relationship. When one of his ex's, Anabeth (Laura Leighton), is suddenly killed, it leads Jesse first to propose to his current girlfriend and boss Hannah (Olivia D'Abo). When she turns him down, he begins a road trip around the country to confront each of his past loves to determine what went wrong with the relationship.

Daly is entirely appealing as the emotionally beleaguered Jesse and is very funny indeed with his perfectly rendered deadpan reactions to a litany of ever-increasing humiliations.

"… an auspicious debut for Lazarus and is dosed with enough strong moments - like a surprise (to Jesse) lesbian baby shower featuring Elizabeth Peña (Lone Star) - to make the entire package worthwhile."

WINSTON SALEM JOURNAL
DECEMBER 3, 1999

PAUL LAZARUS is the director of Seven Girlfriends, an enjoyable romantic comedy starring Tim Daly, Olivia D'Abo, Mimi Rogers, and Arye Gross, which made its world premiere at the festival.

"We were warmly welcomed, and the people (here) have been extraordinarily gracious," he said. "They made the premiere showing an event. Buyers are seeing it and the press is seeing it. More national press is seeing it than I expected."

Lazarus said that the film was shot in 27 days last winter and cost less than $5 million to make. Yet it took nearly seven years for the film to get made. "The standard joke is a year for each girlfriend," Lazarus said.

Yet even with a name cast, distributors haven't scooped it up yet. "Some people (in the business) perceive it as a 'tweener' - they see it as a TV cast and not a film cast," said Barry Opper, the film's co-producer.

Evidently, observers at the festival disagreed: The first showing was a sell out, and Seven Girlfriends later won the World Premiere Award.

PALM BEACH POST
APRIL 21, 2000

…a surprisingly well-executed independent film, with characters worth rooting for and a cast with plenty of appeal… Seven Girlfriends has "date-night movie" written all over it, particularly if guys are willing to endure elbows in the ribs and looks that say, "See, that's what you do wrong." …Leighton is mischievously incandescent as Anabeth, Elizabeth Pena raises the mirth quotient as the roly-poly mother-to-be, and Melora Hardin has an undeniable magnetism as an insomniac who conveniently composes love songs… Based on a videotape previewed, Lazarus has a strong visual sense and an ability to achieve a studio-quality sheen.

INTERNET REVIEW BY STEVE RHODES
MAY 13, 2000

Using flashbacks, dream sequences and alternative versions of what could have been, the movie keeps the momentum going and the film never sags. There are also lots of delightful little subplots, including one about Jesse, who is a professional chef, which concern his ability to cook without an oven. Radiators, light bulbs and dishwashers prove perfectly acceptable substitutes for a traditional oven.

The casting is excellent… The good-spirited film doesn't try to provide big insights into life, although the messages are there nonetheless. The fun picture, which is happy just to entertain us, gives us more than our money's worth of laughs. With so many big budgeted Hollywood films being so bad, it's nice to see the producers of a modestly budgeted picture trying to rock the boat by distributing the film themselves outside of the studio system. If the film comes to your area, don't miss it. And if it hasn't yet, ask for it.