One day, a student of film and video is going to write a doctoral thesis explaining the symbolism of toilet bowls in Henri Pachard productions (The Ladies Room, Ginger & Spice, Hard Choices, etc.). Then I wish he would explain it to me because I haven't the foggiest notion of why we have to be treated to a scene of Nina Hartley relieving herself. Realism, a little Gene Siskelish voice deep inside might utter. Oh.

Along the lines of realism, On The Loose pursues some honest, true-to-life romantic encumbrances - those kinds of situations, pursuant to today's lifestyle, that we loosely describe as "f**ked up." Here we have a bunch of couples, to paraphrase John Fogarty, who somewhere lost connection and ran out of songs to play. The spotlight is on Tom Byron and Shanna McCullough who breakup because Byron can't stand Shanna's "artsy-fartsy" friends and lifestyle. Actually, it sounds more like a quote out of Risky Business (Guido, the killer pimp).

Their relationship springboards a round of lovemaking among other sad sacks, who during the course of their respective boffing, find it terribly au courant to psychoanalyze someone else's problems rather than look to their own. Chalk up the hottest session to Mike Horner, who as the "friend" engages McCullough in some real avant-garde screwing.

Somewhere through all this muddle we know the two are going to get back together. But we don't really care because they aren't a chemically tied together couple anyway. In this instance, the hot sex is far and away better than the love.