Tough and cynical veteran Mitch (Sharon Mitchell, positively mesmerizing) and her naive, yet eager partner Tigr (a very sweet, appealing, and vulnerable portrayal by Tigr) are a couple of * actresses involved in an intense lesbian relationship. Their already strained relationship reaches the breaking point as substance abuse and the pressure of working in the sex industry begins to take a heavy toll on both women.
Director/co-writer Juliet Bashore offers a fascinating and illuminating document of the positive and negative aspects of the 1980's adult cinema scene, with plenty of priceless footage of the chaotic shooting of a hardcore feature as personalities clash and egos run out of control. Moreover, this movie blurs the fine line between fact and fiction to the point where it's impossible to distinguish one from the other. Better still, Bashore accomplishes the remarkable feat of seeing the wounded humanity in people who work in a profession that's commonly perceived as seamy, thankless, and degrading. Porn actor Jon Martin proves to be extremely likable as himself, Jerry Abrams amuses as sleazy hustler producer Gerald Greystone, and Robert McKenna impresses as the supremely cool Bobby Mac. As for Mitchell, she's quite a striking charismatic figure who openly admits that she's always performing whether the camera is on or off; this in turn makes her occasionally very repellent in her narcissism and utterly compelling because of her funky aloof persona and distinctive androgynous look. David Golia's rough hand-held cinematography puts the viewer right in the thick of everything. The final scene is simply devastating. Done in a raw, riveting, and realistic verite documentary style, this film possesses a truly bracing sense of you-are-there intimacy and poignancy.
