This was fun to watch yet at the same time rather disappointing (maybe depressing would be a better description). Fun if you go into it expecting sex, pretty faces and writhing bodies. But disappointing because there is little else besides. Depressing because the main characters appear so selfish, self-absorbed and are not in fact very likeable. Its main theme is about two emotionally immature individuals, learning rather late in life, the difference between lust and love. It's based on a short story by Tamara Faith Berger who also happens to be director Clement Virgo's wife. To its credit it tackles the lust vs love angle reasonably well.
For our protagonist Leila, life is one sexual encounter after another, free of emotional attachment, free of commitment, free of love. It opens with a naked Leila (the lovely Lauren Lee Smith) alone on the couch, masturbating while watching a porn video. There is no major dialogue until at least 10 minutes into the film and even then it is pretty banal if not trite, reflecting in a way the shallowness of these individuals. Director Virgo notes that he was trying to make a visual film as opposed to a talkie. And visually, it is beautifully shot. Leila goes to a party, meets David (Eric Balfour), with whom she feels an instant and mutual attraction. However he is with his girlfriend, Victoria (Polly Shannon). So she snares another lucky male whom she proceeds to bl__ and fu__ in the parking lot, in full view of David and his girlfriend, who naturally do the same thing, both couples more interested in the opposite pair than in their own partners. David of course is enthralled with Leila and hooks up with her. They have sex. Then they have more sex. And that's all they have. They don't really have a relationship. They don't communicate. They just copulate. Like rutting animals. Throughout the film, sex is depicted as mechanical, selfish and purely physical and although arousing, it is emotionally empty. The main impression I was left with was one of emptiness, hollowness and how sad these people were, physically connecting yet mentally and emotionally all alone. So much so that when David's ailing father whom he's been dotingly caring for dies, Leila cannot empathise, much less give solace. And neither is David of much help when Leila struggles with her parents' own breakup.
Luckless girlfriend Victoria (Polly Shannon) is, for me anyway, the most sympathetic character here. Of the three she is the only one with any insight into their relationship. She is also given some of the more memorable lines in the movie. During her confrontation with Leila, she warns him against David, "He's got intimacy issues. He needs a mommy," and more cruelly but to the point, "You can suck a guy's dick all you want. It doesn't mean he's ever gonna love you." She may be cast as the "other" woman but you can't help sympathising with her and thinking that she's better off rid of him. Virgo's need to have a "happy ending" where the characters come together after realising their love for each other is simply not convincing. It's hard to believe that these self-absorbed, narcissistic personalities could suddenly develop the insight to relate to someone, other than on a purely sensual level. The odd result is that, apart from the sex scenes, the movie when viewed as a whole, has a pretty depressing feel to it. Still, quibbles about the film aside, the sex scenes are not in the least bit disappointing. In fact, they are hot. Very much so. They are a lot more erotically arousing than in the bulk of porn material shot today which is so clinically anatomical as to no longer be erotic.
Although the DVD is unrated, it would most likely merit an NC-17. The sex scenes are as close to hardcore as you can get without it being X-rated. The missing elements are the money-shots and scenes of actual penetration. Otherwise everything else is there, right down to Leila playfully handling David's little thingie.
Lauren Lee Smith is gorgeous to look at and a very good actress. It took guts to do what she did here and I hope it pays off for her in the future. She should be in more films if only she could make time in between shooting "The L Word." In the commentary, director Virgo and Smith discuss how they first met when he directed her in her first lesbian scene in "The L Word."
The film has been beautifully transferred to DVD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio (enhanced for widescreen TV). The film as we learn in the commentary was shot on Super 16mm so there is a slight graininess throughout as would be expected from this medium. Otherwise it looks gorgeous. Colors are vibrantly rich, black levels are accurately set, the golden summer palette that Virgo chooses for the film comes through handsomely. Sound comes in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Stereo. Dialogue is recorded at a very low level and is at times barely audible while the pounding music from the nightclub scenes are overwhelmingly loud. Rather like a porn video. I was constantly reaching for the remote to raise and lower the volume. There is an accompanying trailer, a photo gallery and of course the commentary by director Clement Virgo and Lauren Lee Smith who breaks into infectious laughter whenever she's asked to comment on her sex scenes. There is however no behind the scenes footage as advertised by Amazon. In the end, it may not count as a truly thought-provoking or even very credible film but it is arousingly enjoyable nonetheless. From the other reviews here, I take it most viewers will be seeing it for the sex. So, as far as the star ratings go: Five stars for the sizzling hot sex and for Lauren Lee Smith, three and a half for the movie itself.
For our protagonist Leila, life is one sexual encounter after another, free of emotional attachment, free of commitment, free of love. It opens with a naked Leila (the lovely Lauren Lee Smith) alone on the couch, masturbating while watching a porn video. There is no major dialogue until at least 10 minutes into the film and even then it is pretty banal if not trite, reflecting in a way the shallowness of these individuals. Director Virgo notes that he was trying to make a visual film as opposed to a talkie. And visually, it is beautifully shot. Leila goes to a party, meets David (Eric Balfour), with whom she feels an instant and mutual attraction. However he is with his girlfriend, Victoria (Polly Shannon). So she snares another lucky male whom she proceeds to bl__ and fu__ in the parking lot, in full view of David and his girlfriend, who naturally do the same thing, both couples more interested in the opposite pair than in their own partners. David of course is enthralled with Leila and hooks up with her. They have sex. Then they have more sex. And that's all they have. They don't really have a relationship. They don't communicate. They just copulate. Like rutting animals. Throughout the film, sex is depicted as mechanical, selfish and purely physical and although arousing, it is emotionally empty. The main impression I was left with was one of emptiness, hollowness and how sad these people were, physically connecting yet mentally and emotionally all alone. So much so that when David's ailing father whom he's been dotingly caring for dies, Leila cannot empathise, much less give solace. And neither is David of much help when Leila struggles with her parents' own breakup.
Luckless girlfriend Victoria (Polly Shannon) is, for me anyway, the most sympathetic character here. Of the three she is the only one with any insight into their relationship. She is also given some of the more memorable lines in the movie. During her confrontation with Leila, she warns him against David, "He's got intimacy issues. He needs a mommy," and more cruelly but to the point, "You can suck a guy's dick all you want. It doesn't mean he's ever gonna love you." She may be cast as the "other" woman but you can't help sympathising with her and thinking that she's better off rid of him. Virgo's need to have a "happy ending" where the characters come together after realising their love for each other is simply not convincing. It's hard to believe that these self-absorbed, narcissistic personalities could suddenly develop the insight to relate to someone, other than on a purely sensual level. The odd result is that, apart from the sex scenes, the movie when viewed as a whole, has a pretty depressing feel to it. Still, quibbles about the film aside, the sex scenes are not in the least bit disappointing. In fact, they are hot. Very much so. They are a lot more erotically arousing than in the bulk of porn material shot today which is so clinically anatomical as to no longer be erotic.
Although the DVD is unrated, it would most likely merit an NC-17. The sex scenes are as close to hardcore as you can get without it being X-rated. The missing elements are the money-shots and scenes of actual penetration. Otherwise everything else is there, right down to Leila playfully handling David's little thingie.
Lauren Lee Smith is gorgeous to look at and a very good actress. It took guts to do what she did here and I hope it pays off for her in the future. She should be in more films if only she could make time in between shooting "The L Word." In the commentary, director Virgo and Smith discuss how they first met when he directed her in her first lesbian scene in "The L Word."
The film has been beautifully transferred to DVD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio (enhanced for widescreen TV). The film as we learn in the commentary was shot on Super 16mm so there is a slight graininess throughout as would be expected from this medium. Otherwise it looks gorgeous. Colors are vibrantly rich, black levels are accurately set, the golden summer palette that Virgo chooses for the film comes through handsomely. Sound comes in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2.0 Stereo. Dialogue is recorded at a very low level and is at times barely audible while the pounding music from the nightclub scenes are overwhelmingly loud. Rather like a porn video. I was constantly reaching for the remote to raise and lower the volume. There is an accompanying trailer, a photo gallery and of course the commentary by director Clement Virgo and Lauren Lee Smith who breaks into infectious laughter whenever she's asked to comment on her sex scenes. There is however no behind the scenes footage as advertised by Amazon. In the end, it may not count as a truly thought-provoking or even very credible film but it is arousingly enjoyable nonetheless. From the other reviews here, I take it most viewers will be seeing it for the sex. So, as far as the star ratings go: Five stars for the sizzling hot sex and for Lauren Lee Smith, three and a half for the movie itself.
