O Amor em Êxtase

Finding Bliss is a fun, clever, entertaining, and very unique peek at the "porn" business as seen through the eyes of a wannabe filmmaker. The story centers on Jody, who gets awarded "most likely to succeed" at her film school graduation, only to find out that her dreams of success in Hollywood may turn out to be, well just that, dreams. Through a series of both fortunate and unfortunate events, Jody finds herself working at Grind Productions, a purveyor of adult fare looking to crossover into mainstream entertainment. Circumstances then convince Jody, and the audience, that this is her best hope. Jody will offer her creative abilities to co-write and edit Grind's new crossover features and then secretly utilize the Grind facilities, gear, and "actors", to create her breakout independent feature. Porn and mainstream start off like apples and oranges, but as the story progresses, the lines begin to blur and Jody finds herself rethinking some of her preconceived notions about the biz, both Porn and Mainstream. This is a romantic comedy, and steers clear of some of the darker elements as presented in Boogie Nights and Zac and Miri. The sexuality and language are for laughs and not for shock, making this a great date night movie for adults. LeeLee Sobieski is great as Jody, and shows that if given the part, she can carry a movie. Matt Davis as Jeff Drake, the award winning Porn director brings great depth to his character and his complex past and present. The chemistry between Leelee and Matt is obvious. Jamie Kennedy's talents are well suited for his character Dick (literally and figuratively), and the rest of the cast in no particular order Kristen Johnston, Donnamarie Recco, Mircea Monroe, PJ Byrne complement the heart and soul of the story. A few industry cameos appear to spice up the backgrounds, and of course Ron Jeremy is, well he is Ron Jeremy, and always fun to see on screen (fully clothed not to worry). Good technical credits in photography and sound, however there are moments when the picture's low budget are obvious. But overall, a fun ride worth taking.

I rented this movie for a few reasons, neither of which was because I thought it would be good. One, the cover of the DVD said "It's Boogie Nights for women", the second was that it was about a recent film school graduate who gets to work in the porn industry. Why? Well, not only to pay the bills, but so that she can use the studio at night and edit suites to make her own damn movie. Hmm...interesting.

Well, the film is really a direct to DVD quality film. You can immediately tell, if you couldn't from the cast: Leelee Sobieski, Denise Richards, Jamie Kennedy, Kristen Johnston and then some porn stars. It was written and directed by a woman, so the film is her basically a woman's view of the porn industry. Which is why I should have known that the big nude scene would involve a male and not a female. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Jamie Kennedy shows off his junk. I was not impressed.

Obviously working as an editor on a porn movie during the day and directing your own movie at night will take a toll on you, it does for our lead character. She falls for a guy who is directing the porn, why? Well, because every script needs some kind of romantic bit to it to attract the audience. Otherwise, these two people would never hook up. The comedy is tame and hardly funny, the drama has been done to death before (her parents find out and disapprove) and she says some things that her friends find out about and then...boom, she has no friends.

The real reason this film fails is because not only does it lack humour, but it lacks heart. The film feels cold and dead inside, not a good sign.

I loved this film!!! The acting and directing were wonderful, especially for an independent film. The story has a heart,good values and lots of fun to watch!!! LeeLee Sobieski was terrific, she truly made me root for her! Matt Davis, Donna Marie Recco and Jamie Kennedy are true professionals- very good acting by all!!! It must have been difficult to make a film about the porn industry, while keeping it semi-clean, and still making it funny, yet showing the deep emotions of the characters. This film succeeded in achieving this goal.This film made me see the porn actors from a different perspective. Hope that this director makes more films. This is much better than many of the huge budget films out there now!!!

I have to say I too wanted to like this movie but unfortunately there was very little to root for other that Denise Richards and almost all of the supporting cast. The leads were too aware of themselves to make us care about them. Too much makeup and too much playing suave ... and, I wanted to like them both. There wasn't a second that I bought LeeLee Sobieski as a "film geek", she was too ... Sara Jessica Parker. The story was choppy and the dialogue was jumping all over the place. It strangely felt at times that the actors were saying someone else's line from another scene in someone else's movie. Denise Richards was pretty amazing, I bought -- hook, line and sinker -- everything about her performance. It's almost like I wish they could cut out her scenes and put them in a better movie.

I saw this at Slamdance and I really enjoyed it.

It's about a struggling filmmaker (Leelee S) who takes a job editing porn, but it's really more about her character's journey into her own issues (of the past and present) ... and the fact that this self-discovery takes place amidst the porn industry, well, that adds a good dose of humor and a bit of sex.

There's some laugh out loud moments, usually in the form of shock/crude humor or irony. There's also some drama and romance mixed in there, so it's honestly hard to classify it to one genre of film.

It's a lower-budget indie, but it has a great cinematic look with great performances by all the actors. Jamie Kennedy adds some air-headed humor, and Kristen Johnston adds some cutting humor (loved her). The actor opposite Leelee (Matthew Davis) initial appears as a jaded, cynical character, but of course, there is more beneath the surface and it's rewarding to see his character slowly unveil.

Fun movie, overall. Why an 8 and not a 10? I guess my only criticism is that I got a touch bored somewhere around the middle of the film. Perhaps the shock of the shock humor had lost it's shocking value by that point but we weren't yet to the meaty drama. I don't know. To me, it kind of lagged briefly before getting back on track.

But that's a small thing. Most of the time, I "found bliss" when watching FINDING BLISS.