Last Tango

Nica Noelle's brief output of movie-inspired porn features (released under a short-lived "Sweet Sinema" label) was ambitious -far from the Adult industry's awful "porn parodies". She used famous shows like "Fatal Attraction" and "Pretty Woman" as a springboard for her own story and XXX treatment, but this variation on the Bertolucci classic doesn't work.

Ideal casting of French stars Manuel Ferrara and Katsuni is promising, playing two nameless lovers who meet accidentally at an apartment being shown to prospective tenants and embark on a rough sex affair. It's just the central hook of the Marlon Brando/Maria Schneider show, replete with the famous butter for anal sex scene included - and handled tastefully rather than mere sexploitation by Nica.

But the problem is that her attempt at artistry, while laudable, is technically weak. Moody, low lighting renders the visuals more ugly than realistic, and the characters are not fully developed. Annie Cruz scores in a supporting role as Ferrera's mistreated pre-Katsuni lover, but James Deen as Katsuni's silly companion who's life is built around hopes of launching a gimmicky Reality-TV show (about lesbians) amounts to little more than comic relief.