Coming Attractions

Adult Movie Review

Almost Perfect

There’s always that added feature when it comes to feature porn: the fact that you have to have quality in plot and acting. Added to this, though, is the nature of the feature itself. Wicked puts out a variety of very high quality features, most of which are quite well written and acted. But they seem to have an opposite effect when there is an attempt at drama or tragedy as opposed to comedy.

There must be something inherently symbiotic about sex and comedy, as both are enjoyable and are meant to be enjoyed. Almost Perfect falls somewhere in between, giving us a potentially humourous situation, but still trying to be somewhat serious. The effect is, well, interesting. Michael Raven directs and Kaylani Lei stars.

Kaylani stars in the first scene, where she and her steady boyfriend try to decide what they should do for the evening, both seeming rather stiff and more concerned about what they’re doing for a living. They note that it’s Tuesday, so that means it’s time for sex. What struck me as brilliant about this scene is that the sex was designed, seemingly, to be so ordinary, yet it was so well captured. This summed up their relationship rather perfectly, and if you’re willing to play along with the plot, it was well done. Not scorching, but enjoyable.

It should be noted that Kaylani does an excellent job with the narration, delivering the lines rather brilliantly. She notes that her roommate and her boyfriend used to just go at it in front of them. Would I ever love to have August as a roommate, too! It’s a well done scene, really showing off August’s oral skills, and all in all, enjoyable. Not scorchingly hot, but quite nice.

August repeats the performance, in the here and now, in the parking lot, again showing off some excellent skills. Meanwhile, our protagonists have an argument, with the result being a comisserating guy session at the local strip club. This seems to have been a convenient vehicle for a nice boy girl scene, and the stripper, Beverly Hills, was probably the hottest woman in the film. The shame is that the scene is darkly lit, and using a couch as furniture always limits us to a few positions. Stay tuned for her reverse cowgirl, though… That’s worth the price of admission.

And so we finish where we started, with Kaylani again with her man, this time in an intentionally hotter scene, where things seem to be much fresher, and the scene itself has a great deal more openness to it. Great directorial work with this, and while it won’t seem like a scorcher to a gonzo or Euro fan, it’s a nicely produced bit of couples action. That’s really the end of the disc, too, with a happy ending, though not quite the comedy we might have expected. It’s hard to pick out the genre here.

Extras are fairly decent, as they have been in Wicked features as of late. You get a bonus scene with Kaylani from the Accidental Hooker, a good enough scene, and certainly a nice gift for the disc. Otherwise, it’s the typical behind the scenes (which is usually fairly entertaining), a photo gallery (which I’ve never understood), and some info on the Wicked girls in this feature. Again, with just the three of them, that’s a bit thin, but it is a nice touch.

Features are always a hit or miss affair, and it’s vital to understand the audience when presenting one. The audience for such a film seems to be a bit more couples oriented, maybe preferring a bit more tame sexual action, and so the plot really needs to fit that kind of demographic. This is not the sort of place to go off on a bizarre artistic interpretation, as that will alienate that kind of audience. Wicked deserves a great deal of credit for continuously understanding this, and always producing a high quality feature. Their technical skills are fantastic, and they rarely have a miss plot-wise.

All in all, Almost Perfect is exactly that for the couples fan in you. It’s an enjoyable feature, worth showing to someone who might think porn is all cheesy plot and poor acting between increments of flesh. Quite on the contrary, Almost Perfect, while not exactly Oscar-worthy, is well done all the way around, and is a testament to what feature porn can be.

Oranje
Adult DVD Empire
October 2008

Almost Perfect
(Wicked Pictures; Director, Michael Raven; 2008)
Available at Adult DVD Empire

______
“Coming Attractions” © 2008 Adult DVD Empire. All rights reserved.