Examining the directorial career of one of my all-time favorite actresses Veronica Hart, this is another disappointing effort from her, workmanlike but completely uninspired. The vast number of hacks in Adult Entertainment, then as now, means Hart was hardly needed.
Jezebelle Bond, with an at-first off-putting short hairdo that eventually grows on you (and her, hopefully), dominates the feature as Officer Meredith Saunders, sincere in her anti-crime efforts, but sorely hampered by her corrupt captain Tom Kelly, badly played by an unattractive looking Tyce Bune. Hart should have cast a charmer in the role (so many to choose from, perhaps Trevor Zen, who shows up here in a fleeting bit part as an extra only), as Bune is hissable from the first scene and unappealing in his sex footage.
Oodles of plot is subverted, as Hart freely admits at the outset of the BTS short subject on the DVD, by an accident befalling a crucial cast member, who I took to be Alana Evans -still in the film but with just limited screen time. Veronica called upon luscious Devon Michaels to fill in, but the hasty re-write plays poorly and creates a believability gap smack dab in the middle of the narrative.
There is mucho plot here, and some perfunctory action scenes, adding up to diversion but hardly immersion in something beyond the routine sex scenes plopped arbitrarily into the show for the fans' delectation. I am 100% committed to story-line porn, but when it is dull like "To Protect", it adds fuel to the fire of the nay-sayers, who have succeeded in promoting wall-to-wall sex as the Industry standard in the 21st Century.
Randy Spears is cast a bit too dead-on as a slimy villain, again broadcasting his "bad hat" status way too early. Standing out as breast in show is Vicky Vette, who delivers an effective plot twist after humping lucky Cheyne Collins in a storage room as the fink who gives evidence against crime boss Herschel Savage is hiding out in a menial job while tucked away in the Witness Protection program. Nicki Hunter pops up as a prostitute to deliver (according to her BTS interview) her first on-screen anal sex, courtesy of Bune.
Recommended only for Bond fans, who get a chance to see her with a decidedly different look, and enough characterization and plotting to fill a dozen porn assignments.
