Here's the type of bittersweet adult comedy Chuck Vincent (JACK 'N' JILL, GAMES WOMEN PLAY, MISBEHAVIN') used to excel at in the '70s but that current porn filmmakers just can't seem to get right anymore. Give Mike Horner credit for trying...
As Oscar, a geeky 30 year old virgin, he occasionally overplays the broad comedy shtick yet somehow still remains touching as he has learned to accept the vicarious thrills of porno theaters (where he fantasizes the performers talking directly to him in an affectionate nod to Woody Allen's PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO) and peep show booths over actual contact with another human being, the latter presumably forever out of reach. His colleague at the car wash where he works, sympathetically portrayed by Ron Jeremy (the colleague, er, not the car wash, though with Ron's forever increasing size you could be forgiven for being confused !), advises him to seek out the professional help of a prostitute. By pure chance he stumbles upon sweet streetwalker Mary (a career performance by the ever underrated Rebecca Bardoux) who takes him under her wings, grooming him for unfailing Don Juanism.
Unfortunately, the story falls apart once Oscar starts picking up one porno starlet after another, proving the success of Mary's education. This movie would've worked a lot better had more screen time been allowed for the growing affection between Oscar and Mary as Horner and Bardoux turn in extremely likable performances and have terrific chemistry together. I did like the film's surprisingly bleak ending though, perhaps a touch too realistic for comfort for many a lonely video voyeur ?
As Oscar, a geeky 30 year old virgin, he occasionally overplays the broad comedy shtick yet somehow still remains touching as he has learned to accept the vicarious thrills of porno theaters (where he fantasizes the performers talking directly to him in an affectionate nod to Woody Allen's PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO) and peep show booths over actual contact with another human being, the latter presumably forever out of reach. His colleague at the car wash where he works, sympathetically portrayed by Ron Jeremy (the colleague, er, not the car wash, though with Ron's forever increasing size you could be forgiven for being confused !), advises him to seek out the professional help of a prostitute. By pure chance he stumbles upon sweet streetwalker Mary (a career performance by the ever underrated Rebecca Bardoux) who takes him under her wings, grooming him for unfailing Don Juanism.
Unfortunately, the story falls apart once Oscar starts picking up one porno starlet after another, proving the success of Mary's education. This movie would've worked a lot better had more screen time been allowed for the growing affection between Oscar and Mary as Horner and Bardoux turn in extremely likable performances and have terrific chemistry together. I did like the film's surprisingly bleak ending though, perhaps a touch too realistic for comfort for many a lonely video voyeur ?