Themes: Rough Sex, Anal, Gonzo
My review is based on two viewings of this film, and focuses on the elements that I liked or were intriguing to me, rather than a play-by-play commentary on each position/act employed. There are 4 major scenes, intercut with interviews by Brandon Iron of well-known people in the industry.
Scene 1: Nacho Vidal and Ashley Moore
Outside a workout studio, Nacho and Ashley are introduced. Nacho starts kissing and fondling Ashley, which soon leads to standing 69 oral sex over the jumper bar of a jeep. They move indoors, and make some energetic use of workout equipment for standing doggy; Ashley may have had an orgasm here. There is a nice shot of the reflection of this couple in a mirror at the rear of studio. Next comes the first real rough sex, a hard blowjob sequence with lots of gagging. Ashley says she likes it like this, but her body says not, as her shoulders keep twisting and turning as her gag reflex kicks in. When they switch to a regular blowjob without any gagging, she looks more eager.
Nacho then gets rimmed as he is suspended from some equipment. This ends soon, and the next move is Ashley being choked with one of Nacho’s hands. He leans his head against her’s, as she turns red in the face for about 20 sec.; when it ends, she's out of breath. What follows is then some regular fucking, mainly anal – which Ashley shows she is enthusiastic for, and enjoys a lot. The scene ends with Nacho standing as Ashley rims him (but no fingering); he jerks himself off to the finish and comes on her face. And the camera catches nearly every second of Nacho and his pre- and post-orgasm facial expressions – he looks so worked up with the pleasure he’s feeling, and his groans just magnify this; it really ratcheted up my appreciation for these few moments, since normally the camera doesn’t catch this so well in a lot of films. (See BTS in Extras for an additional comment)
There follows a short sequence of 5 men getting hard blowjobs from Ashley, then coming on her face. If you like more gagging and lots of cum, this is for you.
Interview with Max Hardcore: He actually comes across as articulate, saying he’s just a mechanic who is pushing the limits of rough sex. He admits he’s just too jaded for normal sex, but does acknowledge there’s a market for different kinds of porn, including the Vivid’s, etc. He considers sex to be a full contact sport, like boxing or football, and you just have to expect some injuries. And here I thought sex was supposed to be fun….
Scene 2: Jewel De’Nyle and Steve Holmes
This is the hottest scene in the film; these two have perfectly matched sex drives (both high), energy levels and attractiveness. In fact, it was refreshing to see a guy in his late thirties looking so good, and a woman who is not stick thin but who exudes sexual energy as she plays the dominatrix. There is a wonderful undercurrent of lightheartedness in this scene, with plenty of eye contact and kissing throughout as it starts in a bedroom, with Steve begging Jewel to not blow cigarette smoke on him. She lets loose with a plethora of verbal abuse, calling him a worm, a dirty pervert, a loser, coward and so on. “I’m all you need – don’t forget it”, she declares.
She starts by smothering him with her ass, then moves on to cocksucking. Only when he begins fucking her does she let him take his clothes off. There’s some face slapping and spitting (her to him), which is followed by some strenuous vaginal CG, which causes Jewel to have her first orgasm. The camera work here is fine; you can see all the action, as well as Jewel’s face. They switch to Steve lying on his back having his cock sucked; he is moaning in ecstasy now, all lovingly captured by the camera. Finally, it’s time for some anal, which starts nice and slow, then gets quicker, with more verbal abuse Steve then gets on his hands and knees, while Jewel rims, fingers him and pulls on his cock. He looks like he will burst from all the pleasurable feelings, as his body writhes on the bed.
Now comes the controversial part – when Jewel pees in his mouth. The screen fades to show the PlatinumX logo; this is very clever from a legal standpoint – one can’t see peeing, but there are no rules against hearing it. They move onto RCG anal, and Jewel has another orgasm, with the tell-tell sign of her toes curling under as she screams. They finish with him coming on her face, whereupon she orders him to lick his cum up – “Clean up your mess”, she says, and then they kiss once more.
Jewel interview: Jewel remarks that she wanted Steve to feel what the female talent feels like when they have cum all over their faces, when she ordered him to clean it up; she wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. Lordy, Lordy, Miz Jewel, you are just wicked! When asked if she’s ever felt pressured to do anything on film that she didn’t want to do, she says no because she has always been able to set her limits. She does say that someone naïve or stupid could get taken advantage of, though she seems to feels that’s their own fault. Next thing you know, Mr. Steve shows up, fresh from the shower and looking so fine. He embraces Jewel while kissing her on the neck, and they are both glowing.
Scene 3: Claire Ryder and Brandon Iron
Brandon espys Claire on the street in Las Vegas; he asks her for room service, meaning room service. As they enter a hotel room, there is a collection of sex toys on the bed. Claire starts with some dirty talk, which British girls do with such finesse. After some teasing, Brandon uses the toys on Claire, working up to the biggest ones. They move onto a gagging blowjob, which she doesn’t seem to mind. During the sex that follows – vaginal then anal - there is constant talking between the two, with some kissing thrown in, which makes for a less staged feel to the scene. They alternate between fucking, mostly anal, and cocksucking. Brandon does ask her numerous times what she wants and if anything hurts, and he does honor anything that she requests, which I didn’t notice so much until I viewed it the second time around.
They end with Claire being walked to the bathroom on her hands and knees. Once Brandon comes on her face, he wipes some of the cum into her mouth, which she dutifully swallows. To finish the clean-up, Brandon (with Claire’s permission) dunks her head in the toilet. The last thing we seen is Claire’s now wet face.
Inteview with Nacho and Belladonna: Brandon is talking to them outside a shopping mall, where they make for a cute, affectionate couple. Belladonna says that if you don’t like rough sex, don’t do it and don’t watch it. They say they practice rough sex in their personal life as well as on film.
Scene 4: Julie Night and Manual Ferrara.
Brandon and Manuel are out on a hillside, overlooking the San Fernando Valley; Manuel is disappointed that it is an overcast day. To alleviate his distress, Julie Night is offered up, right on the street next to some parked cars, to begin the roughest scene in the film. What follows is a hard curbside blowjob, complete with slapping, a short choking, a kiss, and the inventive use of a side-view mirror. Manuel then takes Julie by the hair as she crawls down some steps leading to a nice house. The crawl over some 20 steps includes hard slapping on her face and tits, more deep-throating and gagging, and two chokings (about 15 sec each) which leave Julie almost fainting. Manuel is muscular, and doesn’t hold back his strength when he slaps, drags or chokes.
The actual sex starts inside on a leather sofa, with Manuel switching positions and angles every 30 sec. or so. This man works at a frenetic pace, like he is overdosing on expresso as he manages the action. The fingering and vaginal sex that start things off come complete with more slapping and toe sucking. Everything leads up to anal sex in CG, RCG and piledriver as Manuel works himself into a frenzy. He even includes some antics with a water bottle and various orifices (with the water getting all over the hardwood floors!) Things end with Julie rimming him, and then he comes in her mouth.
But its not the end. Manuel leads her out by the hair onto a patio, where ~12 men are waiting. Julie apologizes for being so loud in the house, and as penance, she lets the men cum all over her. She does indeed get a drenching as they masturbate one after the other, cumming mainly on her face.
I had a difficult time telling if Julie got any pleasure from this scene. She tries to look enthusiastic, but oftentimes seems out of breath, or even exhausted. From the behind-the-scenes footage, she looked ok, and was smiling a bit, and I assume that the director was careful to ask her if everything was alright. Manuel is simply a powerhouse throughout.
Closing Credits: Nicely done graphics. It would have been more helpful if the male/female pairings had been shown. The last screen does state that all acts were consensual, everyone was HIV tested, then I saw something I’ve never seen in a porn film – the lines “Play Safe” and “No Means No.” If this one screen was at the beginning of the film, or at least the beginning of the extras, more people would likely read it.
Renee’s Wristwatch-O-Meter: This movie rates 3 out of a possible 4. That is, 3 (Steve, Brandon and Manuel) of the 4 male leads did not wear a wristwatch during their sex scenes, as is my preference. In my book, there is no greater fantasy-killer than to see a guy with a watch on during sex; if he needs the time, he can ask the cameraman. My kudos to the director on this score.
Extras: What I liked or thought was informative in these features:
The Ironman Declaration of Independence – Brandon does a great parody of the American Declaration of Independence, calling for “our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the right to make hardcore porn, free from boring corporate influences.” Thomas Jefferson would be proud, if he’s not turning over in his grave at Monticello. If only this had been filmed in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia – which is perfectly legal, what with political satire considered protected speech. Mr. Iron would just have had to cut out the blowjob that ends this vignette.
Behind the Scenes (the ones I thought interesting) (a) 30 seconds of Nacho and Ashley kissing and fucking in a sitting position on the floor. This looked really hot, I can’t figure out why it wasn’t in the first scene. (b) 2 minutes of Brandon and Claire, in which Brandon has Claire take a break because she is having some difficulties. It was gratifying to see him giving her encouragement, and asking her if anything wasn’t ok. (c) End of Julie bukkake scene, where she is getting a paper towel to wipe the cum off her face. One of the guys decides to help by pouring water on her face, but this just gets the cum in her eyes – now her eyes are stinging. Brandon then asks the guys to clap for the whore, which they all proceed to do.
Bonus Scene – Julie giving Brandon a blow job. Brandon tells her to swallow his cock all the way down, saying, “Come on, it’s not that big…” Oh yes, it is.
My Overall Impression: I must admit that I found “I Love It Rough” to be a well-made film on a number of levels. In particular, the general structure, with interviews interspersed between the scenes, gave a welcome respite to the intensity of the action. The camerawork was excellent, with blessedly few of those mind-numbing genital close-ups; instead there are a large variety of shots, with more than a few that focus on facial expressions or entire bodies. This one element made the film far more enjoyable to me, since it allowed the action to be viewed so many different ways. The cast pairings are good, expecially Jewel and Steve. Even with plenty of rough sex, as expected, there are touches of humor throughout the film, that lighten the mood in a refreshing way.
Every act that was performed did look consensual; there didn’t seem to be anything that looked forced or against anyone’s will. Though I did find it difficult to watch the choking scenes (but not unwatchable), I also knew these would be included, so was not surprised by their presence.
Even though I am not an avid devotee of rough sex films, I still found more things to like than dislike in “I Love It Rough”, due to the overall quality of the movie; it certainly surpassed my expectations.
Review from Adult DVD Talk
