What a (Conventional) Twist! 4.25 out of 5.00 - Film: 4 Extras: 4 Video: 4 Audio: 5 - 8/25/2010
This one just sounds like a porn film, doesn't it? Whatever it Takes. A feature, that is, one that tries to have a plot. I'm picturing a drama, one where money and screwing someone out of something - and just screwing someone - is the main point. Vaguely edgy, but kind of uncomfortable. The boxcover mentions many of these points, with sex and money being main features of the film. More than anything, I have to highlight that I tend not to like dramatic porn when it comes to features. Comedies are much more fun to me. Of course, it takes so much to convince the general public that sex should be fun rather than something sordid and drama-filled... I think that's why I'm not tuned in. It's like a culture war that so few people are waging.

The view from this soapbox is admittedly pretty incredible.

I mention this in all of my reviews where it is featured, too: the Free Speech Coalition campaign to prevent piracy is well worth supporting. Why? Because piracy is theft (think about the word itself), and because these are individuals who make their living off of this work. And because Kimberly Kane is in the commercial for it, and she's insanely hot. Wait... seriously, though, the production quality, the talent, the working conditions in the industry we have these days, these are all thanks to industry being profitable and compensated for the hard work put in by everyone. Stealing hurts that, and it hurts the quality of our entertainment.

Oh, right, the movie. Whatever it Takes is certainly a well-made film, with full points to Stormy Daniels for becoming a more and more serious director in her own right. With what is really an incredible cast, it is just the serious nature of this flick that I find off-putting. The other elements are quite fantastic, as I would expect from Wicked. More of a film for couples, Whatever it Takes indeed takes its time with foreplay: the opening scene has Tori Black getting thoroughly licked by Barrett Blade for an impressively long time. Tori eagerly, and frenetically, returns the favour, and I'm astonished, with her enthusiasm, how long it seems to take Barrett to get hard. Then again, that's probably why he's the porn star: I don't know how long any of the rest of us would last with Tori working like that. By contrast, the penetration sequences are relatively short, with an external ass shot in the very end. A good scene, definitely one between a couple with some chemistry, but not something scorching the film out of the camera.

The premise is that this little encounter, combined with some other issues, means that Tori and Barrett are in a shit ton of money trouble. Bills are past due, and Tori ultimately becomes an escort to try to make ends meet. Tori and Stormy (try to say that one fast) go do a bachelor party kind of scene, and Stormy decides to make some extra tips by taking one of the guy's tip. Tori seems shocked, but a week later she's doing just that - but with Lisa Ann. In the words of Robot Chicken doing a parody of M. Night Shyamalan, what a twist! Toys come out quickly, which just bores the hell out of me, and I hit the fast forward. I mean, having a penetration analog not only generally makes it less personal between the ladies, but it seems to show directorial confusion as to how to do a scene without men. The philosophical issues of the genre, eh?

Eventually Tori is working both sides of the aisle as it were, and this is interrupted only long enough for Mackenzee Pierce to get her ass plugged and otherwise DP'd. Certainly a nice interlude, and a nice introduction to harder porn to the uninitiated couple. Then Tori explains that her life is ruined to Stormy, by Stormy. Lovely bit of dramatic, vaguely romantic piano music here. But they're going to try to make up (Tori and Barrett), and we almost get a Jerry Springer-esque last thought.

Then some bad synth-pop, and we're done.

I wish I liked this one more, but it just all felt a bit heavy to me. Maybe it's because I don't like people sneaking around and the like. Keep in mind, I'm in an open marriage, and we set it up that way because we don't believe, Oranjewife and I, that humans are necessarily monogamous. So setting up the paradigm like this is just a bit off for me. Doesn't mean it's a bad flick, but it's probably for a particularly mainstream audience, one that might be the suburban married couple. Maybe.

      By: Oranje

Wicked Pictures' Whatever It Takes 5 out of 5.00 - Film: 5 Extras: 5 Video: 5 Audio: 5 - 3/28/2012
Dr. Chauntelle does not use a rating system. Five stars is a default setting only.

Oh, exploration of prostitution in narrative films... You can go from whimsical and a little silly á la Pretty Woman (1990) to downright uncomfortable in your ickiness - I'm talking to you, Requiem For A Dream (2000)!

In Whatever It Takes (2010), Wicked Pictures and director Stormy Daniels offer us an engaging and intense take on prostitution, with a little bit of contemporary timeliness thrown in for good measure.

Tori Black (!!) plays Zoë, a nice girl with a nice husband and a nice alluded-to baby (wait! - there is no actual baby in this movie, so don't go freaking out). Zoë's husband is out of work and, as unluck would have it, she is laid off due to the economic downturn... or the fact that she has been late to work six times in the last month, as her bitchy blunt gal pal Amber points out.

With bills mounting, Amber suggests that the increasingly desperate Zoë begin working as an escort (as she herself already does). She's reticent at first, but ultimately the money and the piece of mind it promises suck her in. Not surprisingly though, what was originally intended as a one-time thing becomes a habit; and Zoë's downward spiral happens pretty quickly as the coke and excessive shopping take hold.
The film eventually reaches a pretty dark climax, but I'm not going to spoil it for you... Just take my word - it's intense, and you should watch it.

Zoë goes through a pretty significant psychological process over the course of the film. There is one sequence in particular where she's reflecting on some of her former clients, and it's pretty icky. Every "degrading" image of prostitution you can imagine is presented ? Zoë blowing some guy in an alley, Zoë getting fucked from behind over a sink with her face to a mirror (so she can see herself)... that sort of thing. Now, wait again! - none of this imagery is violent or degrading or overtly problematic... at least, no more problematic than the reality of prostitution may be to some viewers. The image of a woman struggling for survival at the hands and cocks of many nameless faceless dudes is pretty powerful, and this sequence is difficult to watch in that respect.

This film is an excellent exploration of what is essentially an iteration of forced prostitution, and it engages many themes that real women are wrestling with today. Don't believe me? Then read this recent LA Weekly piece written by Mike Albo. What exactly is one supposed to do when backed into a financial corner with a dependent child? Certainly there are other options... but maybe not really. And how does one handle the stigma associated with sex work? Like Zoë, many people have experienced some very real and, I would argue, unfair consequences as the result of the actions they took to survive.

But let me brighten the mood and tell you a little bit about the sex!! Whatever It Takes has five solid scenes, the highlight of which is a girl-girl between Lisa Ann (playing a bossy business woman client of Zoë's, complete with riding crop!) and Tori Black. There is also a pretty raunchy DP between MacKenzee Pierce, TJ Cummings, and Billy Glide. And Stormy Daniels is a bitch-on-fire as Amber. She and her no-bullshit attitude are rather entertaining (and edifying - Amber makes some good points) to watch.

If you're interested in a pretty intense and timely film that just happens to be liberally sprinkled with plenty of hott sex, then Whatever It Takes is definitely for you.

Recommended for: the unemployed, fans of Snarky Stormy and a downward spiral (with a net!)



      By: Dr. Chauntelle

Stormy Has What It Takes! 4.75 out of 5.00 - Film: 4 Extras: 5 Video: 5 Audio: 5 - 7/26/2010
An intelligent, somewhat dark relationship movie with excellent acting and enough good sex to keep it erotic, Whatever It Takes marks Stormy Daniels' best feature in a year where she has directed quite a few fine ones. With an amazing acting tour de force from Tori Black (who appears in three solid hardcore scenes), as well as terrific support and a very compelling storyline, this morality tale provides the balance for those looking for more than just scenes, but who need a plot that makes sense to stay involved.

As a model who gave up a promising career to marry bartender Barrett Blade and have a baby, Tori is forced to make a difficult decision when they both lose their jobs and the bills begin piling up. Secretly, she joins friend Stormy Daniels and enters the world of escorting, first joining Stormy at a bachelor party (imagine your bachelor party with those two babes) where she chickens out and leaves Daniels to fuck the bachelor, and then late for her first gig with Lisa Ann, she gets punished with an ass whipping by the lead MILF. As Black warms to the task and her financial problems turn better, the story turns darker as tragedy strikes her personal and professional world.

In addition to munching on Lisa Ann's cunt, Tori gets fucked by husband Blade in the scene's opener and has a rousing roundelay with Anthony Rosano, one of her clients, who fingers her ass while fucking her. Mackenzee Pierce, as one of Black's co-workers, engages in a terrific double penetration scene with Billy Glide and T.J. Cummings.

While the realistic story packs a wallop, Daniels never forgets to keep it hot and sexy, and thanks to the excellent screenplay, it's always relatable. Francois Clousot's solid cinematography keeps the mood right in that sweet spot of eerie but erotic. Blade, Daniels and of course the ultra hot Black (who is provocative even just taking a shower, which she does a couple of times during the feature) turn in award-worthy acting performances. Not a big-budget movie, but a very good, very erotic one indeed. Great BTS provides plenty of insight.

      By: Paul Fishbein