I have long admired Candida Royalle's movies, which remain unique in Adult Cinema history. She stuck to her guns rather than submit to commercial pressures (e.g., the trend toward gonzo) and "The Gift" is a remarkable example of her mature approach to eroticism and storytelling.
I use the word "mature" because it is one of many terms applied incorrectly to porn. Nearly all porn in recent decades is childish and amateurish. But Candida's work is sophisticated: making a real movie with explicit sex included but not overemphasized.
So when even a very fine porn movie nowadays stops stone dead periodically for a sex scene lasting upwards of half an hour, ruining whatever pacing has been established and overwhelming the narrative, Candida doles out XXX content in very small, strategic doses. That means that for the vast majority of fans "The Gift" would be rejected on a "where's the beef?" basis.
Shanna McCullough is wonderful as Lizzy, a woman on the outs with her boyfriend Mark Davis, who goes to her late grandmother's house to show it to prospective buyers. The movie is a romantic fantasy, and the setting (a real home in Upstate New York) provides plenty of atmosphere.
Similar to fantasies involving romance novelists whose characters vie with the real characters for screen time, Candida has the spirits from a previous era play prominent roles. Lizzy finds a trunk in the attic filled with memorabilia, and in particular takes a blanket out to use as a shawl to keep her warm, little knowing it has the gift of an aphrodisiac.
As she shows the house to prospective couples, they fall under the blanket's spell, leading to sex scenes that are nearly softcore, but with brief elements of hardcore content included. The eroticism remains, but without the genital close-ups, money shots or endless and tedious pumping motions.
As a result, the eroticism remains and is balanced with several truly moving moments, more akin to Silent Movie sentimentality than to porn. Royalle's theme of retrieving true love is satisfyingly developed.
Besides Shanna and Davis, the largely unknown supporting cast is fresh and effective, with my spotting Otto Bauer right away in a very early role, by virtue of his long hair as a rock star/home buyer.
