Visions of Passion

REVIEW
A fairly intriguing concept is ruined by shoddy direction, terrible acting and a general mishandling of what could have been a decent entry in the softcore genre. Chesty (and dramatically hopeless) Mia Zottoli (billed as Ava Lake) plays Jeanie, a budding filmmaker working on an eccentric (and slightly unsettling) video project where she spies on her neighbors and films their private moments without their knowledge. The fact that this “project” is morally objectionable and probably illegal doesn’t seem to bother Jeanie or her two friends, music video editor Scotty (Matt Wilde) and stereotypical, slutty, blonde neighbor Lucy (Natalie Moore).

Armed with what must be a magical video camera (it has the uncanny ability to see through window blinds as well as provide our star with a full view of any setting she spies on), Jeanie explores her inner desires – or something like that. In the course of the film, she consoles a forlorn lesbian, engages in a few threesomes and dates an escort. One would think that Jeanie’s “project” would provide ample opportunity for her to observe various sex scenes and erotic activity, but there are really only two instances where she catches her neighbors in the act. The second time being the basis for most of the film’s conflict, as our slightly demented heroine captures her neighbor (Russell) knocking boots with a married man, who also happens to be a senator. This is barely an issue till later in the film seeing as how Jeanie’s more concerned with the rumor that her home-wrecking neighbor is a call girl than she is anything else. It seems dear Jeanie has some sexual hang-ups that she’s working out and beginning a relationship with a whore is the best way to help things. A running theme in this film seems to be that prostitution isn’t really a bad thing. In fact, it’s quite liberating and can truly improve one’s life. Several times a female neighbor attempts to convince Jeanie to turn some tricks. Jeanie even goes as far as setting up some “dates” with prospective johns and engaging in a threesome with her new friend the hooker and one of her clients.

There is a great deal of potential for some sapphic fun throughout the film. Unfortunately, whenever there’s a chance that two females may actually get it on, there’s a pan or a cut to another scene. The director really appears to be something of a coward in this regard. There’s a decent amount of nudity and sexual content, and with a couple prominent lesbian relationships you would think that a simple kiss would not only be reasonable but a certainty. But alas, we are not given anything more than two girls rubbing their boobies up against each other in the opening scene of the film. It’s just another example of a plot point that goes nowhere. One more in a laundry list of missed opportunities for providing a point to this film.