Ambitious adult "auteur" Thomas Paine burst onto the hardcore scene with 1985's splendid soap opera CORPORATE ASSETS. Too bad that 35mm film was already on its way out and the porn industry was to hit its first and biggest slump since emerging from the underground in the late '60s. In order to ensure a potential profit on any sizable production, filmmakers were strongly "encouraged" to maximize their resources by those pulling the purse strings by simultaneously shooting a more modestly scaled "B side" to their A list endeavors. This was not an unusual practice even during the heyday of adult cinema's "Golden Age" but was now rapidly becoming rule rather than exception.
Hence Paine made MOUTH WATERING to make up for the extensive expenditure on his lavish Frankenstein fornication farce THE ULTIMATE LOVER. And guess what, obvious restrictions aside, it's also a pretty good movie in its own right, touching on subject matter the genre rarely gets into, namely how a positive body image can affect a woman's perceived possibilities of happiness. Rather than do a dire treaty on the topic however, he has thankfully chosen the road of the rom com.
Sad and overweight, due to a none too credible fat suit, Tracey (Taija Rae) dreams of idealized lovemaking sessions set to sacrificial drum beats with her handsome Prince Charming (Tony Martino, still boyishly beautiful before he decided to pump up the volume to near-grotesque proportions at the local gym). When she wakes up, it's next to loyal longtime boyfriend John (Herschel Savage) and her obese self staring back at her from the mirror. Believing a weight loss program to be her Yellow Brick Road to infinite bliss, she quickly sheds the pounds and befriends fellow former fatty Debbie (Tracey Adams). Unwaveringly supportive every step of the way, John is delighted to have the newly svelte siren to show off but now Tracey feels she's basically too good for him. So she shacks up with the unattached Debbie to make out with all the menfolk a pair of swinging singles can handle. Eventually she realizes the error of her ways of course but it might already be too late as Debbie, who clearly knows a good thing when she sees it, has moved in on John albeit with Tracey's (initial) consent.
As he would be increasingly enforced to do, as budgets - not to mention screen size - grew smaller, Paine puts forth a simple yet plausible plot and embellishes with good-natured erotic encounters to craft one of the more accomplished couples efforts of the mid-1980s. Even though a bit more spit 'n polish of certain filmmaking aspects might have streamlined the endeavor into mainstream worthiness, the results are bound to impress the occasional aficionado, especially those who only came of age long after theatrical screenings of such material drew to a close. The story is handled well with a few barbed remarks about the ordeals suffered by attractive women in the workplace as most welcome additions.
Always the most down to earth of the quivering quartet of mid-1980s sex goddesses (including the outrageous Ms. Lords and the Lynn "sisters", Ginger & Amber), Rae effectively conveys the insecurity that drives her character to make all the wrong decisions once she has slimmed down to her gorgeous self, an essential characteristic to retain audience sympathy for her eventual plight. Glamourpuss Adams proves an even bigger surprise, delivering a mature performance of great warmth that will keep audiences guessing as to which way Herschel's heart should go. With only two women at its center (be warned, the other listed female stars, while prominently billed, only appear as non-sex extras), this one should go over big with the ladies, at least if they are not put off by even bigger '80s hair !
