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Bare Essence

Bare Essence

Released Mar 01st, 1989
Running Time 96
Director John Stagliano
Company Evil Angel
Cast Kathleen Jentry, Fallon, Brandy Alexandre, Trinity Loren, Jack Baker, Nikki Knights, Billy Dee
Critical Rating AAA 1/2
Genre Feature

Rating


Reviews

Kathleen Jentry, one of the most versatile actresses in the adult business, comes under the magnifying glass in this John Stagliano study about a woman with sexual ambiguities who underwrites her dance career with a lucrative real estate/sex scam. It is only after Jentry and gal "pal" Trinity Loren pose as appraisers, gain entry to Giovanni Menendez' home, lift his wallet and a valuable diamond necklace that Jentry develops these conscience attacks (she even goes into one of the Puccini opera guilt spasms where she shears her tresses in self-punishment and absolution).

With Billy Dee assuming his standard private eye/pimp character (they're interchangeable) in hot pursuit, Jentry makes a couple of pit stops for philosophical advice from grease jockey Jack Baker who is a kind of Mr. Goodwrench and Confucius rolled into one.

Stagliano is to posteriors what Russ Meyer is to bosoms, and Stagliano's shots are set up with that same type of humorous eccentricity. It works quite effectively, and one scene in particular where Don Johnson-voiced Nikki Knights appears as Baker's gasoline alley sex partner. Knights wears her greasy hot pants to the tune of unfettered sexual charisma.

I see this in other adult features too, but sometimes too much character study can be as bad as too little. Jentry (and Stagliano since he wrote the script) gets a little too much into the pangs of conscience bit at the sacrifice of some forward movement, a small price to pay here for a feature chock full of earthy erotica, and honest, sincere production values.



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