Visions of Passion

OK. This is not exactly "Rear Window". But it is a fun, sexy variation of the theme. Ava Lake stars as a woman who films her neighbors for a personal movie project. She gets involved in many stories including one with a hooker neighbor who is having an affair with a Senator. Plot has little logic and there is no way Ava can see all that is happening in other apartments. But it has Ava Lake in many sex scenes and that is good enough. She is involved in two girl-girl scenes, a three way and a solo masturbation scene ALERT: Tape the unrated edition on cable. The DVD I got was R-rated...which means all the plot holes minus all the sex scenes. It is awful!!!!!!

I picked up this DVD, thinking that it might be something quite mindless to watch while on the treadmill. Boy, I called that right.

This movie is considered in the context of its genre, that being that peculiar variety of fluffy soft core sexiness, striving to be erotic without being explicit or overly crass.

The principals are attractive, and special kudos are due to some very capable cosmetic surgeons. However, the acting is not, ahem, subtle, looking a bit like community theatre or a fairly good high school play. The dialog, and the storyline, is on par with your typical Saturday morning cartoon (if they still have those). Come to think of it, the acting brings to mind the level of animation in most of those cartoons.

Probably most surprising, the supposed sexy bits really aren't that effective. Oh, the lingerie is very nice, but I found these scenes to be fairly short, and somewhat inherently disjointed. There wasn't much flow, and the editing not really smooth: Oh, there's a bit of Scotty with Jeannie, oh there's Scotty with Lucy, oh there's Lucy with Jeannie, and then it's cut back over to the storyline.

My favorite line in the movie: Jeannie, in the midst of a whole 75 minutes of pretty clumsy dialog, responds to something Lucy says, "Oh Lucy! Who writes your stuff???" Or something like that, it really doesn't seem worthwhile to go back and check it exactly.

One of the unfortunate consequences of post-Bubba years in Washington is that soft core erotic movies have all but disappeared. No one produces them anymore and if they do, it ends up like this movie: edited to Disneyland standards. This movie looks great, has a good story, good acting for the genre, and an incredibly attractive cast of women willing to take their clothes off and play with each other. And yet, all of the good stuff has been left on the editing floor, and there isn't even an unrated version! What kind of morons would release an erotic movie with the sex and nudity scenes cut out? The lead female does some great acting and looks amazing, but to see her in all her glory you'll have to watch other movies. I highly recommend The Mummy's Kiss, where you'll see her at her best. There are several other beautiful girls and we know they all do erotic scenes with each other. We see the beginning of the action and then cut to something else in the most vile way. This could truly be an outstanding and very hot film, and I'm sure it was intended to be originally. One can only hope that someone out there will release the uncut version some day.

Buxom brunette Jeanie, (Ava Lake as credited), leads as an aspiring film director, assembling "slice of life" vignettes from the filmed trysts of playful neighbors. She works with an ambitious editor (Scotty), and develops a relationship with a lovely neighbor (Russell) who turns out to be a call-girl.

There is more depth in Lake's bust-line than in her acting, but she delivers the goods. Russell brings more depth to her character and keeps the story interesting.

Lake plays with some friends, male and female, consoles a lonely lovely lesbian neighbor, gets involved with the call-girl, and learns that one of her films shows a conservative, family-values politician getting comfort from the call girl. This discovery brings some tension to the plot and helps to maintain viewer interest.

The acting was fair, with varied performances, but the main characters were nearly believable. The plot actually made sense and gave us more reason to sit through than just for the erotic interludes. But the sexcapades were better than average, too, so "Visions of Passion" is especially worthwhile for those who enjoy the eroticism.

Jeanie (Mia Zottoli) and her magical video camera (I say magical because it can see through windows with the blinds shut) record various people having sex to use the footage in her upcoming documentary. One night she records a senator (who's a republican of course, if these things where true to life it'd been a democrat more then likely, but thats a whole different rant), anyways she records a senator with a callgirl (Regina Russell) and has to contend with an editor who steals it. The sex scenes aren't all the great, the plot boring. Skip this one.

The Goods: 10 sex scenes (m/f, f/f, and solo); Naked dancing in opening credits

Babe of the Movie: I'm all about giving fresh faces a chance, so enjoy the accolades Natalie Moore

My Grade: D

Where I Saw It: More Max