Nachhilfe in Sachen Liebe

Okay, maybe this is no American Pie but this movie does have it's moments. Chris, the lead character is likable and beth, the new girl at school he lusts over is absolutely gorgeous. Wonderful moments in this film make up for the cheesy dialogue and music in this film. Sylvia Kristel once again delivers a very sensual performance as the slighty older woman across the street who gives Chris love advice. If you liked this movie check out Private Lessons, also with Kristel.

This movie is incorrectly considered a "sex comedy", a la Porky's or (the far superior) Private School. It isn't. It's a boring softcore porn film that plays like Hef found a bunch of discarded footage from a few mid-'80s centrefold shoots and decided to structure a movie around them. Indeed, the softcore scenes - all in the "imagination" of the protagonist - take up so much runtime that you forget about the flimsy excuse for a plot.

The plot: the day-dreaming hero makes a bet with a jerk that if he can nail the new girl at school - a Reverend's daughter - he gets the jerk's car. If he fails to get his D wet, the jerk takes his car instead. Of course, as in all movies structured around a bet, there's a time limit on how long the hero gets to "score", but this aspect is completely pointless and arbitrary because the movie has no sense of the passage of time anyway. The point of the whole "you get a week" scenario in movies is to provide tension as the clock ticks and it looks like the hero won't be able to seal the deal. In this movie, you barely even see the antagonist after the bet is made anyway, so you forget about that and watch what looks like the hero going from room to room in his own house and apparently walking in on Playboy shoots, as former Playmates such as Monique Gabrielle do what they do best - make sexy facial expressions and keep still. You could have this much fun with your dad's old nudie mags.

The movie does have one thing going for it, however, and that is Sylvia Kristel. Her scenes with the hero provide the movie's sole source of eroticism. She is the only real actress in the movie. The rest aren't actresses: they're models. And models aren't that interesting when they're still striking poses in a medium that allows them to actually move around.

This young woman was stunningly beautiful in a totally natural way. Both wholesome and sexy at the same time. Even her awkward acting (she does seem a little out of her element here) just endeared me to her more.

It's a shame you can't find this film (or for that matter ANY Kimberly Evenson film- "Kandyland", anyone?) more easily, but I'm sorry to say that "The Big Bet" will likely be consigned to the VHS Obscurity pile. (I still have my well-worn tape after 15 years, but this movie is now only available on eBay and the like.) The easiest thing to find Kim in today is probably "Porky's Revenge", which limits the lovely Miss Evenson to a few minutes of screen time, and is utterly terrible besides.

Still, Kim made a great Playmate back in the day, and it was nice to see her stretch her acting chops a bit... her presence in THE BIG BET is the main reason to watch it, IMO. (the other female lead is Sylvia Kristel, aka the famous Emmanuelle, who never quite did it for me with her too-slim figure and butch haircut.) Though in between moments of staring slack-jawed at Ms. Evenson, I seem to remember some humorous moments with Lance Sloane, the lead guy.

Anyway, this movie seems to be truly rare. It's barely even known on the Internet. For anyone who wants to see Kim Evenson at her prettiest, and in an actual leading role which well complements her double duty as eye-candy, I recommend tracking this one down.