Despite a brilliant performance by the beautiful and talented Kaylani Lei, this film was a real bore. Kaylani should be given a shot at mainstream films. Her facial expressions. verbal delivery, and body language are convincing. I'm talking about the "regular" part of the movie, not the tedious simulated sex scenes, of which (and it's hard to believe I'm saying this) there actually were too many ! The plot wasn't too far out of whack, with a few interesting twists. The jealousy and secrecy aspects were totally unbelievable, however, considering the supposed closeness and liberation of the 3 girlfriends. The ubiquitous sex simulations were boring after the first few, but I never got tired of looking at Kaylani's exquisite face. The fact that this girl can actually act was an unexpected plus.
3 Reviews
Good performance out of Kaylani, she really made the film watchable....I give it an A-
Smooth B9 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I just finished watching "Sexually Submissive" tonight, and I thought this was a fairly solid softcore flick. Sure, the plot was kinda standard, but the decent sex scenes somewhat make up for it.
We begin with three female friends: Naomi (Kaylani Lei), Viv (Jenaveve Jolie), and Courtney (Tiffany Taylor). Since Naomi is doing the narration, you know from the start that this story is basically about her. At the beginning, Naomi is with a guy named George (Tom Stone). George is good, clean, and wholesome--in short, a "nice guy." While George is a solid guy, Naomi longs for something else; something wild, something passionate, and she doesn't think she's gonna find it.
Courtney invites her friends and their significant others up to her vacation house for the weekend, thinking that spending the weekend together would be just the thing to get some passion going in George and Naomi's relationship. Little did she know that Naomi did indeed get some passion going--but not with George. You see, Naomi has something called the "Blake Standard." She compares every guy she's ever dated to Blake, who happens to be Courtney's husband. When she tells him this, he's flattered, but it also REALLY turns him on. Even though she keeps trying to tell herself it's wrong, Naomi ends up sneaking out to the pool and having sex with Blake later on that evening. Every chance they got, they slipped away to spend time together.
After the "magical weekend," Naomi began having second thoughts--not only about Blake, but about her relationship with George. She decides to break it off with George to become Blake's "other woman." "Lifetime makes movies about women like me," she narrates, and she's right. She just committed something of a cardinal sin--sleeping with her best friend's husband. Blake and Naomi play phone tag--and have phone sex--up until they regularly begin seeing each other again. Meanwhile, Courtney begins getting suspicious about her suddenly distant husband, and Viv cautiously observes what's going on, keeping a safe distance from things.
Later on, Naomi decides that Blake has to make a choice, and when he chooses Naomi, it forced her to make a choice--forever ruin her friendship with Courtney by running off with her husband, or try to end it before things really get serious? Guess which one she picks? After Courtney and Blake decide some space is best for their marriage, Naomi goes running up to the vacation house where Blake is now staying. They have sex again, of course, but this time they were seen photographed by an unseen person. When copies of the pictures appear on Naomi's doorstep soon afterward, she begins to panic. When Courtney tells her she hired a photographer to spy on her husband at the vacation house--and said photographer is coming over very soon to show Courtney the results--it basically forces Naomi's hand. Courtney can't bear opening the envelope, so she gives it to Naomi to open, giving Naomi one last choice. Open the envelope and let Courtney see the evidence first hand, or simply admit to what's been going on?
I'll admit, the story was a bit "Lifetime"-ish, but it stayed true to its softcore roots. Kaylani Lei, Jenaveve Jolie, and Tiffany Taylor--all three are porn stars by trade--gave the audience some decent sex scenes. None of them were outstanding, but several were fairly solid. Kaylani, who has carved out a second career for herself in these softcore outings, was good as Naomi, who was confused, yet desperate to find love and passion. Overall, I thought the sex scenes could've been spiced up just a little bit, but "Sexually Submissive" is a solid movie. I consider it tapeworthy.
Women: A- (Kaylani, Jenaveve, and Tiffany are all quality women who are great to look at. I believe this was Jenaveve's first softcore flick, and she wasn't too shabby in her supporting role as Viv. She didn't have a lot of lines and just one sex scene, but she was okay for the time she was there. Tiffany Taylor is cute, but that's about all I can say about her. Kaylani was her usual self, with a bit more drama this time. What Chloe was a few years ago, Kaylani is now--the hardcore porn girl who dabbles in softcore so much that she becomes a regular.)
Sex: B (The sex was good, but not great. In fact, a couple of scenes looked kind of pedestrian. Kaylani had the most scenes, but she was simply just OK.)
Story: A- (The story was a happy medium between "Lifetime Network Chick Flick" and "Cinemax After Dark Softcore." It had something for the ladies--a semi-dramatic plot, the test of true friendship, and a woman falling for her best friend's husband. However, it also had something for the guys--namely, porn stars getting naked. Call it a "couples" softcore movie if you will, but overall the script and plot were fairly good.)
Overall: A- (I thought "Sexually Submissive" should have been a B+ movie, but I gave it extra points for the nice pacing of the plot. It didn't rush things, but it didn't take forever to get the inevitable either. I think Kaylani Lei must really like doing late-night softcore films to be cast in so many of them over the past few years.)
We begin with three female friends: Naomi (Kaylani Lei), Viv (Jenaveve Jolie), and Courtney (Tiffany Taylor). Since Naomi is doing the narration, you know from the start that this story is basically about her. At the beginning, Naomi is with a guy named George (Tom Stone). George is good, clean, and wholesome--in short, a "nice guy." While George is a solid guy, Naomi longs for something else; something wild, something passionate, and she doesn't think she's gonna find it.
Courtney invites her friends and their significant others up to her vacation house for the weekend, thinking that spending the weekend together would be just the thing to get some passion going in George and Naomi's relationship. Little did she know that Naomi did indeed get some passion going--but not with George. You see, Naomi has something called the "Blake Standard." She compares every guy she's ever dated to Blake, who happens to be Courtney's husband. When she tells him this, he's flattered, but it also REALLY turns him on. Even though she keeps trying to tell herself it's wrong, Naomi ends up sneaking out to the pool and having sex with Blake later on that evening. Every chance they got, they slipped away to spend time together.
After the "magical weekend," Naomi began having second thoughts--not only about Blake, but about her relationship with George. She decides to break it off with George to become Blake's "other woman." "Lifetime makes movies about women like me," she narrates, and she's right. She just committed something of a cardinal sin--sleeping with her best friend's husband. Blake and Naomi play phone tag--and have phone sex--up until they regularly begin seeing each other again. Meanwhile, Courtney begins getting suspicious about her suddenly distant husband, and Viv cautiously observes what's going on, keeping a safe distance from things.
Later on, Naomi decides that Blake has to make a choice, and when he chooses Naomi, it forced her to make a choice--forever ruin her friendship with Courtney by running off with her husband, or try to end it before things really get serious? Guess which one she picks? After Courtney and Blake decide some space is best for their marriage, Naomi goes running up to the vacation house where Blake is now staying. They have sex again, of course, but this time they were seen photographed by an unseen person. When copies of the pictures appear on Naomi's doorstep soon afterward, she begins to panic. When Courtney tells her she hired a photographer to spy on her husband at the vacation house--and said photographer is coming over very soon to show Courtney the results--it basically forces Naomi's hand. Courtney can't bear opening the envelope, so she gives it to Naomi to open, giving Naomi one last choice. Open the envelope and let Courtney see the evidence first hand, or simply admit to what's been going on?
I'll admit, the story was a bit "Lifetime"-ish, but it stayed true to its softcore roots. Kaylani Lei, Jenaveve Jolie, and Tiffany Taylor--all three are porn stars by trade--gave the audience some decent sex scenes. None of them were outstanding, but several were fairly solid. Kaylani, who has carved out a second career for herself in these softcore outings, was good as Naomi, who was confused, yet desperate to find love and passion. Overall, I thought the sex scenes could've been spiced up just a little bit, but "Sexually Submissive" is a solid movie. I consider it tapeworthy.
Women: A- (Kaylani, Jenaveve, and Tiffany are all quality women who are great to look at. I believe this was Jenaveve's first softcore flick, and she wasn't too shabby in her supporting role as Viv. She didn't have a lot of lines and just one sex scene, but she was okay for the time she was there. Tiffany Taylor is cute, but that's about all I can say about her. Kaylani was her usual self, with a bit more drama this time. What Chloe was a few years ago, Kaylani is now--the hardcore porn girl who dabbles in softcore so much that she becomes a regular.)
Sex: B (The sex was good, but not great. In fact, a couple of scenes looked kind of pedestrian. Kaylani had the most scenes, but she was simply just OK.)
Story: A- (The story was a happy medium between "Lifetime Network Chick Flick" and "Cinemax After Dark Softcore." It had something for the ladies--a semi-dramatic plot, the test of true friendship, and a woman falling for her best friend's husband. However, it also had something for the guys--namely, porn stars getting naked. Call it a "couples" softcore movie if you will, but overall the script and plot were fairly good.)
Overall: A- (I thought "Sexually Submissive" should have been a B+ movie, but I gave it extra points for the nice pacing of the plot. It didn't rush things, but it didn't take forever to get the inevitable either. I think Kaylani Lei must really like doing late-night softcore films to be cast in so many of them over the past few years.)
Softcore Flick for Women... Poetic, Romantic, and Repetitive
TimeNTide27 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
To give it some credit, this softcore flick from MRG Entertainment has quite a different feel than most of their films, probably due to using a different writer (A.G. Lawrence) instead of their normal team of April White and Edward Gorsuch. This is definitely a softcore chick flick, with tons of poetic, romantic voice-over narration from the lead character (Naomi). It plays more like a cheap romance novel or a Lifetime movie than a softcore film. Ironically, there's actually a line in the film where Naomi says "Lifetime makes movies about women like me." I'm sure it'll appeal to women more than men.
Plot: A female writer begins a very passionate and romantic affair with her best friend's husband, and not much else. After the first 20 minutes to setup the situation, things get kinda repetitive for the next hour. Naomi says "I can't believe I'm sleeping with my best friend's husband, but I truly love you", and Blake says "I truly love you too, but I'm also still in love with my wife", and then they have sex again. The last 15 minutes are actually quite good, leading up to the climax in an unexpected way, and cleverly resolving the crisis without a real confrontation, but also without resorting to some contrived way to force a "happily ever after for everyone" ending.
Acting: Kaylani Lei is excellent. Everyone else is fair to average, but that's kinda OK since the lead character with all the voice-over narration is the make or break role.
Women: Kaylani Lei is a really cute, petite, Island girl type with a natural body. My only complaint here is that she lightened her hair to brown here, and I like if much better as raven black. Hardcore star Tiffany Taylor makes a softcore appearance and is absolutely gorgeous with her full natural body. Jenaveve Jolie is average at best.
Sex Scenes: Fair to average. Here's where the guys will be disappointed, it's softcore made for women. The simulated sex scenes are relatively low energy, slower and more romantic, and the women often get head but rarely give it. And the biggest problem is being repetitive and not having enough variety. Tyler Finn is in 8 of the 10 scenes, Kaylani Lei is in 7, and during the middle portion of the film 5 of 6 scenes are these two together. The only sex scene that isn't standard girl/guy stuff is a fantasy threesome sequence set to rock music, and that one is below average due to terrible lighting. And 10 three minute sex scenes in a 94 minute film makes for a low action to talk ratio.
Overall... gals will probably like it, guys will want to skip it, or at least keep their thumb near the fast forward button .
Plot: A female writer begins a very passionate and romantic affair with her best friend's husband, and not much else. After the first 20 minutes to setup the situation, things get kinda repetitive for the next hour. Naomi says "I can't believe I'm sleeping with my best friend's husband, but I truly love you", and Blake says "I truly love you too, but I'm also still in love with my wife", and then they have sex again. The last 15 minutes are actually quite good, leading up to the climax in an unexpected way, and cleverly resolving the crisis without a real confrontation, but also without resorting to some contrived way to force a "happily ever after for everyone" ending.
Acting: Kaylani Lei is excellent. Everyone else is fair to average, but that's kinda OK since the lead character with all the voice-over narration is the make or break role.
Women: Kaylani Lei is a really cute, petite, Island girl type with a natural body. My only complaint here is that she lightened her hair to brown here, and I like if much better as raven black. Hardcore star Tiffany Taylor makes a softcore appearance and is absolutely gorgeous with her full natural body. Jenaveve Jolie is average at best.
Sex Scenes: Fair to average. Here's where the guys will be disappointed, it's softcore made for women. The simulated sex scenes are relatively low energy, slower and more romantic, and the women often get head but rarely give it. And the biggest problem is being repetitive and not having enough variety. Tyler Finn is in 8 of the 10 scenes, Kaylani Lei is in 7, and during the middle portion of the film 5 of 6 scenes are these two together. The only sex scene that isn't standard girl/guy stuff is a fantasy threesome sequence set to rock music, and that one is below average due to terrible lighting. And 10 three minute sex scenes in a 94 minute film makes for a low action to talk ratio.
Overall... gals will probably like it, guys will want to skip it, or at least keep their thumb near the fast forward button .
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