Stormy Daniels remains one of my favorite directors in all of Adult CInema, even though it is her acting/sexual performances and tabloid notoriety that have defined her of late. This feature for Wicked Pictures' Passions sub-label is a genuine romance than refuses to conform to 21st Century norms of what porno fans want to see.
Alix Lynx is a vulnerable heroine, seen on the day before her marriage to a Hollywood star played by Robby Echo. Opening scene has them humping away in the venerable "Immoral Proposal" mansion, it making a fitting backdrop for their "can't wait until wedding night' sexual enthusiasm.
I thought this would become a rom-com, but Stormy's script carefully leaves out the com, instead empathizing with the young lady's plight. Mr. Echo gets cold feet and skips out on her before the morning of the big day, leaving Alix with 400 wedding guests in the lurch and humiliation her present.
The production uproots to the sticks, as Alix's BFF Alexa Grace spirits her away to her home in Colorado, to stay with her and husband Lucas Frost on their ranch. Fly in the ointment is Lucas's war veteran brother Damon Dice, who is Debby Downer following the car accident death of his wife, leading to a satisfying soap opera coupling with our heroine by film's end.
Stormy likes to include grand gestures, unafraid to recycle Hollywood cliches but instead celebrating them. She gives herself the small role of the bad guy, as Alix's older sister who sells her out for a few bucks to be hounded by the paparazzi. And the film's climax is staged in the rain as the lovers Dice and Lynx finally consummate their "love at first sight" romance.
The ladies' acting is terrific, and my affection for Alexa Grace had me rooting for her to switch roles with Alix, so sympathetic is she in support. The guys are less convincing, a result of a diminished talent pool in porn these days, where most of the studs are unfamiliar with reading lines or building characterizations in a world of gonzo.