Undercooked Menu Spoils 'Fast Food' By Rita Kempley Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 6, 2001

Robert Modica and Louise Lasser negotiate their relationship in "Fast Food Fast Women." (Lot 47 Films)

An incoherent jumble of characters and situations, this cheesy New York comedy follows the romantic travails of the kooky Bella (Anna Thomson). Once a Wall Street whiz kid, Bella now waits tables at a Manhattan coffee shop, which serves as a lonely-hearts club for a trio of elderly widowers.

Paul (Robert X. Modica), the most appealing of the three, answers an ad placed by Emily (Louise Lasser) and, after a few dates, it's clear she'd like to ask him up for coffee. Paul, however, is afraid it's not caffeine he needs but Viagra.

Meanwhile Bella, who has been involved with a married loser for 12 years, agrees to a blind date with Bruno (Jamie Harris), an irresponsible cabbie, who has just gained custody of two young children. Although Bella's dream is to marry and have babies, she follows a pushy friend's advice and tells him she's a confirmed singleton.

Writer-director Amos Kollek hops between the two story lines like a one-man ping-pong game. And that's not even counting the subplots about a stuttering, golden-hearted hooker, a peep-show performer, a pretentious theater director, a secretly wealthy crone and so on. Although Kollek manages to link them all up, he can't focus on any one of the characters, much less keep track of the narratives. Neither can we, but then, who cares?