Hidden Passion

We've all seen the softcore pornographic films that are aired on Cinemax and Showtime after dark, and they're terrible enough. But "Hidden Passion" is worse; not only is it terribly acted and horribly written, but the fact that it's a cheap rip-off of "Bound" adds another layer to the disgust. And the film doesn't even do a good job at ripping it off, seeing as how it's cast with untalented actors, so it's crammed with sex scenes here and there to lure the viewer away from the fact that the entire movie reeks.

This film is a direct copy of the mainstream Jennifer Tilly film "Bound," done in B-movie fashion. The main difference is that the Gina Gershon character is played by a male, Jason Schnuit (see also, Club Wild Side 2). Otherwise, the film is virtually identical in plot. The main character, played by Kim Dawson, lately of the late-night cable series "Bedtime Stories," is not the ditsy showpiece of a mobster, but the unhappily married showpiece of a mobster. Jason Schnuit plays her old boyfriend whom she left at the altar. He comes back into her life and together they hatch the Bound-like plan to get out of the desperate situation and be together. The story is unoriginal, as are the mediocre sex scenes. The film doesn't even have the female-female scenes that made "Bound" so interesting.

I've read the other reviews about this film, and I have to take issue with it being called a lame remake of "Bound." I've seen "Bound" and while this film does have some storyline elements that are similar to that movie, it's done in such a weak fashion that I can't really see the similarities.

The story goes like this: A frustrated former stripper-turned-trophy wife (Kim Dawson) is seeking to get out from under her mobster husband's grasp and run off with a former flame who's just come back into town. The husband is using a business of his as a front to launder money, so the wife and her old boyfriend hatch a plan to kill him and run off with the money. Yeah, I know....sounds like "Bound" on the surface, but it really isn't.

The story seems to drag at some points, and it didn't help that there were sex scenes included that were totally disconnected from the plot. It seems that Kim Dawson has done hundreds of these films, and she just seems bored throughout. The film has a predictable ending; not much else you can say about that.

Sex: B- (Many sex scenes, but a few of them just weren't realistic enough, especially the final scene.)

Women: C+ (Kim is really starting to show her age now, and the other women weren't anything to get crazy about, either.)

Story: C (It was just kind of there. The husband had a mean streak to him, but then again he was supposed to simply by being the bad guy. The sex scenes--that is, those that were linked in some way to the story--moved it along at a decent pace.)

Overall: C+ (I came away thinking that the film could have been better, but only marginally. The script was kind of weak, but the sheer number of sex scenes balanced that out to a degree. Decent softcore fare, but nothing much more than that.)

Former stripper Charlotte (Kim Dawson) tells everyone that she "doesn't do lap dances anymore". Of course right after she says this, she does indeed lap-dance for every male she sees. But that's beyond the point. Charlotte's mafia husband is treats her shabbily and when Charlotte's ex-fiance enters the picture they soon plan to get out. The premise is interesting enough, but the sex scenes make the movie better then most of the other DTV feature's that I've seen.

Where I saw it: TMC-on-demand

My Skin flick Grade: B-

IN ADDITION to this watch: "Lap Dancer"

Ms. Dawson shows her skill as a stripper much as she did in "Lap Dancer' (e better film). As the wife of a club owner, she has her problems. An old lover shows up and does brighten her life for a while though. The notion that this is some kind of revamp of "Bound" puzzles me.