Loveblind

This is a highly stylized morality tale presented as an erotic drama, and is set beautifully at an isolated seaside residence. It features a photographer who has had a lot of empty sexual experiences, an engaged couple - the insecure friend of the photographer and his sexually curious fiance, and a mystery girl who emerges from the surf with tremendous modelling potential.

The pace of the film is set by the regular couplings, which feature much posing and attractive lighting. If only real life were ever like this! The performances of three of the leads, Bobby Johnston (Matt the photographer), Kim Yates (Sarah the fiance), and Catalina Larranaga (Channi the model) are strong for this type of fare. Eric Acsell's character (Nick the husband) is the weak link, and the main impetus to reach for the fast forward button. As the story unwinds, the conflicts and concerns of each player are resolved in very traditional ways. Despite the promises behind the risque premise, there is no moral ground breaking here.

Catalina Larranaga may be the one to watch in the future if she can move on to higher forms of cinema - she is very photogenic with dark features and dramatic short black hair, and has acting skills beyond her obvious physical presence. Overall, a pleasant bit of escapism to occupy a rainy afternoon.

Ms. Larranaga is a very striking woman, even with her clothes on. Whatever her reasons for taking on soft-porn roles, she may have a good deal of difficulty making the move to more traditional film parts. That would be a loss. With so many of the thin blond look-a-like actresses populating the TV and cineplex screens, it's very unusual to see someone like Catalina who seems dominate a scene just be standing quietly. She also seems to have acting training. I hope she gets a chance to get serious roles in which her clothes stay on. It will be soft-porn's loss, but I'd like to hear her speak some sensible dialogue for a change.

A B-film starring the seemingly very busy Kim Yates (most recently of the late-night cable series "Nightcap"). While the film features full-frontal nudity and all the usual couplings associated with B-films, this movie makes a classic mistake for one in the T&A genre. It's plot, while hardly unique, was difficult to follow at times. It involved dreamlike sequences for the Yates character that were very reminiscent of Alyssa Milano's classic "Embrace of the Vampire". Unfortunately, this film was not as high budget or well-intentioned as that film, and so the dream sequences were just out of place and unnecessary. Nevertheless, there are far to worse films to waste your time on, and the other scenes are pretty well done.

If you're in that kind of mood, well then you'll enjoy "Loveblind". It's nothing special, but Kim Yates is a talent, and her lovemaking sessions with Eric Acsell -- they play fiances -- are topnotch.

Also, Catalina Larranaga -- a striking beauty -- is one to watch.

Hey, folks, this isn't art. But if you're the kind that can appreciate T&A -- and the sizzle that's missing from the mainstream sex-free features -- then check this one out.