No Time for Love

Paul Thomas and one of his best scripters Raven Touchstone deliver an okay romantic drama "No Time for Love", sort of a porn variation on lifestyles of the rich and not too famous. It's way too corny to be among his major achievements, but is okay story-driven porn, the kind that used to flourish in abridged form on cable via The Playboy Channel.

Randy West is a big-time editor at a publishing company, with lovely Jennifer Stewart as his wife and a staff led by bad-influence (on him) Wayne Summers and strong executive Porsche Lynn. West is basically oversexed, too busy to be with his wife all the time so Summers keeps fixing him up with beautiful women, who seem here more like escorts (i.e., prostitutes) than full-fledged characters, such as K. C. Williams and Alicyn Sterling.

There are some minor subplots, but the chief gimmick in Raven's script is weak: Jennifer's old flame, who she's still carrying a torch for, turns out to be the mysterious author of editor West's big new novel (and the little-known actor playing the role has the stage name: Ernest Hemingway!), and the movie ends with false sentimentality: she burns the flame's photo she's always kept and the stars reinvigorate their love life, vowing to make time henceforth for love, fte a dumb gag of West literally throwing K. C. Williams out of his limo when he decides to go back with his wife.

Best thing in the movie is a moody jazzy score by Michaelangelo.

Paul Thomas has to be the greatest director of adult films there ever was. He has come closest to the old dream of making X-rated movies that are on a par with mainstream efforts. He could be the role model for Jack Horner in "Boogie Nights." During his career as a performer he obviously got a lot of ideas about how he could do the job better and he succeeds consistently, with an enormously prolific output of high-quality films. His stories are usually very good (especially by comparison)and the talent he employs tends to be among the best actors and performers around. For all the attention to production, he still knows why consumers buy and rent X-rated tapes and the sex action in his movies is always top notch.

"No Time for Love" is an excellent example of his work. It stars Jennifer Stewart, who didn't have a long career and may have worked exclusively for Thomas now that I think about it. She's one of those "too good to be true" girls, one who looks like she would never make a hardcore movie. The characters and story are involving enough that they build up great anticipation for the final love scene between Jennifer and Randy West, which can accurately be described as volcanic in its intensity.

There are some who deride Thomas' work and all "couples" films as boring, wimpy, etc. Their main objection seems to be that his films don't degrade women enough. For those who aren't part of the "raincoat crowd" and are looking for high quality adult entertainment, you can't go wrong with Paul Thomas' stuff.