"A Passion", or "The Passion Network" as it's usually called on Cinemax and Showtime, is a flick that took me a few viewings to completely soak in. The women look great, the sex scenes are suprisingly good, and the story is passable, if not spectacular.
A young couple, Janna Marks (Stephanie Beaton, a feisty red-head) and Matt (Robert Knowlton) are invited to a strange house where everyone seems to be a bit too horny and sex-a-plenty is going on in every room. They figure, "When in Rome....." and join in on the fun. As the visits pile up and the months go by, they're invited to talk to the owner. He explains to them a complicated setup--they've been invited to be part of a secret network of "super-lovers" from around the world who provide "sexual entertainment" for high-paying customers, via participation or on a extremely secure television network. The video is captured via secret cameras placed throughout the house. "Not even the Pentagon uses the kind of encryption we use," says the guy. Funny stuff there. For their services, they'll be paid $500,000 a year for the next five years. Of course, Matt thinks this is the greatest deal in the world; after all, what guy would turn down the chance to have sex with the hottest babes you can find, with no strings attached? Janna has second thoughts, but doesn't matter to Matt--he wants in.
The story is told mostly in flashback form, with Janna spilling the beans to two eager cops willing to hear the entire story.
Between the passable attempt at storytelling and the passable attempt at an ending, there's a neverending cycle of every sex scene imaginable--two girls, three girls, two girls and a guy, etc. The list goes on and on. The girls are good-looking, and make the sex scenes seem almost-porno quality with the grunting and moaning going on.
While the story wasn't great by any means, most softcore flicks are like this anyway; there's a reason 80% of the grade comes from the purely visual aspects of the movie, folks. The flick delivered on both "Women" and "Sex", so the grade stays fairly high. I'd consider this tapeworthy for the sex scenes, but I wouldn't tape the rest.
Women: A- (Stephanie Beaton is one nice-looking redhead. The rest of the women were anywhere from B- to an A. It's a good thing there were more "A" women than "B" women, though.)
Sex: A- (Plenty of sex scenes, with a great deal of groaning, moaning and the occasional scream from the ladies. Most of them were quite graphic. Not exactly "Desire and Deception", "Girl for Girl", or "Carnal Passion", but it'll do.)
Story: C+ (This is why the grade comes down a notch, folks. I found the story to be a bit far-fetched. Yes, I know it's a skin flick and they're not supposed to be well-written scripts, but let's have some believablility here. If I was grading on story and acting alone, every one of the movies I've reviewed would get either a D or an F. It's not really about the story and I know that, but a secret network not even the government can break into? Come on, now...that's stretching it a bit, isn't it? Some of the dialogue just doesn't make any sense, either.)
Overall: B (Since the story is only 20% of the grade, the overall score drops about one grade level. I thought this was a good movie for the things usually associated with softcore flicks--beautiful women and graphic sex scenes. If the sex scenes were on par with the movies I mentioned, I probably would have given this movie an A.)
