5
out of 5.00 -
Film:
5
Extras:
5
Video:
5
Audio:
5
-
10/8/2007
Coming Home will probably be Wicked Pictures' most nominated movie when the AVN nods come out later this year, and if there's any justice in the world it will also be their most awarded one. This is Wicked's strongest feature in years, and one of those rarities in the adult industry: a movie actually
about something.
Written, directed by and starring Brad Armstrong in the lead role,
Coming Home tells the story of Brian Parsons, an Army reservist who gets called back to duty and sees his home life shattered as a result. Whether he intended to or not, Armstrong's movie makes a rather poignant statement about the unforeseen effects the Iraq War is having and can have on young soldiers' lives, and while
Coming Home by no means takes any political sides, it does address one issue that mainstream media has yet touched upon: what happens to the guys that
do make it back home?
As the movie opens, Brian gets the letter most reservists fear the most: he's been called back to active duty and will be serving in Iraq. Brian passes on the news to his girlfriend, Sarah (Kirsten Price), and she makes his last days memorable - making love to him and making sure he knows she'll be waiting for him when he gets back. Brian also asks his best friend, Jimmy (Barrett Blade), to watch over Sarah while he is gone.
In an impressive, but all-too-short non-sex cameo, Randy Spears co-stars as Brad's drill instructor, a character that recalls the Lee Ermey role in
Full Metal Jacket. Randy doesn't get a whole lot of screen time (although viewers can catch a deleted sex scene with Gianna Lynn on Disc 2), but he's so good that a separate movie could probably be made about his character alone.
Brian gets injured during battle and, as the result of a mix-up, he's reported dead back home. This is perhaps the weakest part of Armstrong's screenplay, since it never reveals just how the error was made, why a body was never returned for burial, or why - if alive - Brian wouldn't let Sarah know about it. It's a necessary evil to get from Point A to Point B in Armstrong's story, but it does require the most "suspension of disbelief" when watching
Coming Home.
Months later, Brian finally does return home, only to discover that Sarah and Jimmy are now an item. The news destroys him, and Brian goes on a vengeful binge of both anger and promiscuity - saying and doing things he'll soon regret, including hooking up with Jimmy's ex, Monica (Shyla Stylez). While Brian eventually does find piece of mind, he realizes that he'll never be able to get back what he once had. The war has taken it from him.
Coming Home runs over three hours, so there's plenty of room for both story and sex. The movie contains 10 sex scenes, with most of them one-on-one couplings. There are a pair of multi-partner scenes however - an Army barracks scene that features a mini-orgy involving Jada Fire, Gianna Lynn, Brooke Banner, Tyler Knight, Chris Cannon and Christian; and a drive-in foursome that takes place inside a car and features Mikayla, Kayla Carrera, Marcus London and Derrick Pierce. As for the stars of the movie, Kirsten has three full scenes (two with Brad and one with Barrett), plus shows up at the very end of a fantasy sequence that Brad envisions with a stripper played by Vanessa Lane. Shyla also has three scenes in the movie - one with Barrett, one with Brad, and one with male newcomer Charles Dera.
Coming Home also features a scene between Savannah Stern and Scott Lyons (who plays Brian's brother, Donnie).
While the six-person orgy scene is fun to watch, the most entertaining scenes are actually the last two in the movie, both which involve Brad's character at a point in his life where everything is falling apart around him. The stripper sequence with Vanessa has a lot of energy to it; while Brad's sequence with Shyla (which also happens to be the final sex scene of the movie) has a "naughty" factor to it, since Brad's character calls up Kirsten and Barrett's characters so they can listen in on the sex.
Disc 1 of this double-disc set presents the movie in anamorphic widescreen with the option of 5.1 Dolby English or 2.0 Dolby Spanish. Also an option is a feature-length commentary track with Brad Armstrong, Kirsten Price and Jessica Drake (who was Assistant Director and also has a small, non-sex cameo).
Disc 2 contains the rest of the bonus material, beginning with a 22-minute anamorphically-enhanced look at the making of
Coming Home. There's also a deleted dialogue scene (1-minute) between Barrett and Shyla, as well as two deleted sex scenes: a blowjob-only sequence that takes place at night in a car between Kirsten and Brad (4 ½-minutes); and a scene between Randy Spears and Gianna Lynn that takes place during her basic training (12-minutes). Wicked has also thrown in two bonus scenes from other titles: a 15 ½-minute pairing between Jenna Jameson and Brad Armstrong from
Jenna Ink; and a 13-½ minute coupling of Kirsten Price and Barrett Blade from
Country Style.
Rounding out Disc 2 are some bloopers from the movie; slide shows; cast bios; three trailers for
Coming Home (one hard, one soft, and one "super soft"); nine trailers for other Wicked titles; an anamorphic promo reel for the studio; and some DVD-ROM content.
While
Coming Home may not be the best movie Wicked has ever produced (although I've heard others already saying that it is), it certainly ranks right up there near the top of the heap. It's moving without being sappy, and has a message without being preachy. Don't be surprised if Brad Armstrong winds up winning at AVN for
both best actor and best director on this one. In fact, you can tell 'em you heard it here first!
By:
Spooky