Happy Endings

Features like "Happy Endings" are what keep the talented Adult star and latterly director Stormy Daniels from earning the praise she likely deserves. It's a tired-blood, underachieving "vehicle" handed in to Wicked Pictures as part of her many-years-contract, serving only to tarnish her reputation.

In fact, there's something of a bait & switch going on here, as Stormy is the selling-point for this rom-com as writer-director and receiving top billing in the cast, but the actual leading lady is Gracie Glam at the peak of her young career (even earning an unwarranted AVN nomination as best actress for a performance not up there with her best work).

Not to be confused with Wicked's "Happy Ending" (an anal-themed movie released very early in the label's history), this non-starter makes more than one punning use of its title. Glam owns and runs a day spa where she's a massage therapist (and roommate Stormy works for her), and the film has a saccharine happy ending of its own.

Biggest drawback here is horrible casting of the leading men: two schlumps who Stormy likes to employ but are thoroughly unappealing. Brendon Miller is our romantic hero, in an on again/off again relationship with Glam after their "meet cute" scene where she bops him in the head, thinking he's about to steal her spa moneys she's depositing at night at a nearby ATM.

Stormy overacts the Eve Arden role (gal the heroine confides in and who prompts much of the action), and quite artificially takes over center stage in later reels with a couple of sex scenes shoe-horning her into the XXX spotlight for her fans. But the show is about Gracie, and her obviously poor choice in men.

Gruff Miller is awful and Blade even worse as they seemingly fit into the movie merely by having lots of tattoos, cast as heavy metal aspiring musicians and respectively tattooist and tattooee. Stormy's dialog is lousy, and the humor consistently falls flat.

Many extras flit in and out of the picture, but unfortunately go uncredited.