“Kiss your A*s Goodbye” is a comedy about selfish people, acting out of selfish motives. Mike (Ed Lendvay) is a thirty-something businessman. With extreme eagerness and excitement, his 15-year old girlfriend Jen (Sabrina Rehnke) informs him “we’re going to have a baby!” Her sole reason for having a child is to make Mike happy. Much to her disgust, Mike demands that she have an abortion. “We need to kill this thing if we’re going to survive…we need to tear it out of your teenage uterus, and flush its slimy, puss covered corpse away forever”.
There is a parallel structure at work in “Kiss Your A*s Goodbye”. While Jen confides her feelings with her guitar instructor Frenchy (played by co-writer Justin Rowand), Mike does the same with his co-worker Bob (Rob Schiller). Frenchy, an arrogant, self-opinionated burnt-out hippy who spends most of his time at home, makes Jen feel embarrassed and ashamed. Bob, on the other hand, is an office worker with very little self-esteem. Bob shares a revealing, yet cynical personal account about having been sexually abused by a minister in his youth. There is equilibrium to their gender roles, with both Mike and Jen displaying feelings of depression and regret. Over a romantic candle-lit dinner with Mike, Jen appears exceedingly confident in her sexuality. When saddened by Mike’s rejection, her character shifts gears and she becomes confused, humble, and sadly innocent in the company of mentor Frenchy. Perhaps she’s just reverted to the bitter reality of teen angst.
“Kiss Your A*s Goodbye” maintains an offbeat, sarcastic tone throughout. However, as the film progresses, the storylines’ initial focus is lost, with oddball characters and their quirky diatribes becoming a permanent sidetrack.
For a film which seemingly attempts to be some sort of social commentary, it comes across as little more than an excuse to tell a few dirty sex jokes. This is not to say that “Kiss Your A*s Goodbye” isn’t a laugh-out-loud crowd pleaser. Midway, a campy music video segment is unveiled, entitled “Nipple to Nipple”, which is simply hilarious. Its tune is catchy; its explicit lyrics are ironically very charming.
“Kiss Your A*s Goodbye” is a very funny, entertaining, raunchy little movie. Just for the hell of it, director Josh Kleefeld also throws in a rambling dwarf (Tim Loomis), the mayor of happy land, a senile guy (Len Thomas) in a wheelchair who shouts obscenities, and a black woman (Brenda Acres) responding to phone sex calls during a funeral. “Kiss Your A*s Goodbye” is proud of its own silliness.
