Lie with Me

In Toronto, the nymphomaniac Leila (Lauren Lee Smith) spends the nights dancing and having sex with men to satisfy her sex drive. Leila learns that her parents are divorcing and she is affected by their decision.

When Leila meets David (Eric Balfour), she has a torrid affair with him. David is an artist that lives with his father, who is very dependable on David. Leila and David have a complicated relationship since he is a possessive man that demands commitment but Leila does not know how to love a man and has the need of different partners in her sex life.

"Lie with Me" is a very erotic and pointless romance, with a flawed story but a charming lead couple. The writer and director Clément Virgo seems to be more interested in exploring the sex scenes with the sexy and gorgeous Lauren Lee Smith. Her face and look are very hot and she is bold in the erotic scenes. Unfortunately her character is not well developed and there is no explanation for her unstable behavior and feelings. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Deite Comigo" ("Lay Down with Me")

There I was, lying in bed, finished the end of The Tonight Show looking for something to watch. When I read the description of the movie showing Lauren Lee Smith - I automatically thought about Lara from The L Word. I always wanted to see more of her (other than The Last Kiss). She's so beautiful and delicate so it was very interesting see her play this role. The chemistry between her and Eric Balfour was hot and naughty, but also romantic. It seems to me that she really had to let her guard down to play this role and I thought she was superb. Also, I no longer see Eric Balfour as Milo from 24 anymore, he has a nice body and booty. I recommend this film for just about anyone who is tired of the same old boring and predictable love scenes. This move is far from the norm in the department.

I liked the characters in this film and the actors playing them. But the truth is this film falls short in its effort to examine sex addiction vs. the complexity of love and relationships. I suppose it is easy to dismiss this work as a well produced soft porn flick. It seems to want to be much more. The problem is the characters are not all that well developed. We do not know what the two principal characters find in each other that will transcend their heavy breathing. They say they love each other eventually, but who knows why? Frankly I have know idea what the lead female character has to offer in terms of substance. At least the male character is seen reading Steppenwolf and not the cliff notes version, either. So I guess we can deduce he has depth and intelligence. The female lead, however, seems to work in photo developing shop as a clerk. Yet she has quite a varied wardrobe which she somehow is able to afford. That's about it in terms of her personality and depth. But they do have attractive bods and I must guiltily admit I enjoyed that. If the sex scenes were edited out, the theater would be empty half way through any screening!!!

Clément Virgo's 'Lie With Me' is pretty much your usual forgettable porn masquerading as art type movie. Yes, there is plenty of nudity and explicit sex scenes which I don't mind as long as it's relevant to the film (otherwise I can just go and watch porn instead) but this film hardly has any depth to tell a convincing story. Not only is the plot supershallow the story itself is full of inconsistencies. Lauren Lee Smith is an otherwise good actress but I wonder what motivated her to do this piece of trash. Eric Balfour is quite terrible and none of the other actors are noticeable. The hand-held camera-work tries to create a voyeuristic effect but it fails to hold interest. 'Lie With Me' fails as a feature film but as soft porn it might work.

I was truly surprised by the emotional depth and haunting quality of this film, which could easily have felt merely cheap and tawdry because of the abundant nudity and almost explicit sex that dominates it. The excellence of the performances, however, acts as a counterbalance to the sexual titillation.

In acting this tale of the struggle between sheer lust and real love, both leads radiate a subtlety of emotion through facial expression and body posture that makes the largely non-conversational characters "speak" in articulated ways. The sparse voice-overs effectively assist the development of the relationship. In a society where wide sexual experimentation at early ages exposes many to the pitfalls this film explores, this is a strong statement about the human hunger for love and real relationship.