Rating as a softcore film: A
The basic premise of this picture is lifted straight from the Kevin Costner/Whitney Houston hit The Bodyguard: famous movie star Maxine Strickland (Tracy Ryan) is receiving threatening letters from an obsessed fan, so she hires conflicted tough guy Paul Logan to protect her. Most of the movie is set around her mansion, with the suspects including her butler and maid and her best friend Naomi Grant (Tera Patrick), who's secretly jealous of Maxine's success. No points for guessing the movie doesn't really care about the mystery.
Through and through, SOM is an excellent softcore production. The production values are passable, the lighting is excellent, the soundtrack is pleasing enough, and best of all, the women are breathtakingly gorgeous and the sex scenes are titillating. Taken for what it is, the movie succeeds on virtually all counts.
What's immediately eye-catching is the presence of two of the hottest women around, the blonde Tracy Ryan and half-Asian/half-American Tera Patrick. Tracy's best scenes are mostly near the end, when she has a lesbian encounter with Monique Parent (the least attractive woman in the movie, but not too distracting) and a passionate sex scene with Paul Logan. Tera's best scene is a threesome with the hot maid and the butler. Pity the redhead playing the maid is uncredited, she's incredibly hot, even looking as good as Tera and Tracy on several occasions.
The only thing that really disappoints is the lack of a lesbian scene between Tera and Tracy; here you have two of the hottest women and to simply neglect what could have been a coupling for the ages is completely flabbergasting. I'm not sure who to blame this omission on; even though I'm aware Tera Patrick usually doesn't do lesbian scenes, this is softcore and she did have that scene with redhead. So I guess this is the director's fault.
For anyone who actually cares about the plot, no one should have any trouble guessing who the culprit is. I'd say it's the character who serves no other purpose to the story, but then again, the only purpose any major character in this film serves is to bare their skin. Whatever the case, any single scene in the movie is far more satisfying than the whole of The Bodyguard.
In regard to other aspects of the plot, I'd say that any man who would cheat on Tracy Ryan clearly isn't thinking straight, but he's cheating on her with Tera Patrick! I can see why such a temptation would be too hard to resist. It's also easy to see Paul Logan succumbing to Tera's charms (or maybe it's just her looks) even when he has a thing for Tracy.
Seduction of Maxine is definitely one of the best softcore films in memory, ranking alongside other productions like Femalien, Fast Lane to Vegas, Alien Files, and Hidden Beauties. Now if only a movie could combine Tracy Ryan, Tera Patrick, Venesa Talor, Sasha Peralto, Sage Kirkpatrick, and Laurie Wallace, I'd be in softcore heaven.
