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Finding Bliss
Jody Balaban, an aspiring filmmaker, is fresh to L.A. with New York film school accolades and the dream of making her movie. Unable to get a job where she can use the skills she so finely honed, Jody must edit adult entertainment to make ends meet. The uncompromising desire to make her movie, leads Jody to secretly film in the porn studio facilities at night - until she is caught in the act.
Release : | 2009 |
Rating : | 5.2 |
Studio : | North by Northwest Entertainment, LightShow Entertainment, Cinamour Entertainment, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Production Design, |
Cast : | Leelee Sobieski Matthew Davis Denise Richards Jamie Kennedy Tim Bagley |
Genre : | Comedy |
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Great Film overall
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
This film is a warm, witty comedy that involves a clash of two cultures, just as "Pretty Woman" was. In "Pretty Woman" it was streetwalker and super-rich culture that clashed. In this it is Personal/artschool filmmaking and porno ("That's passe, call it adult"] filmmaking. The films also match in having beautiful, bright, warm, young blonde actresses in the lead. There is also the Gary Marshall connection. Gary Marshall is the narrator/director of "Pretty Woman" and he is in the movie "Finding Bliss" and the catalyst in a way for everything that happens.Unfortunately, while Pretty Woman made zillions of dollars, "Finding Bliss" only made two dollars. This is unfortunate, because I think anybody who like "Pretty Woman" would enjoy "Finding Bliss" While the film is sometimes formulaic in the romantic comedy mode, there are some strikingly original scenes. The scenes of Sobieski getting turned on by the pornography that she's editing is genuinely erotic and striking. It dances softly around the lines separating mass market and porn films.I watched Julie Davis' "Amy's O" and also found it a charming comedy dealing with sex. She is especially brilliant at directing women. Besides a great performance from Sobrieski (which one always expects), Kristen Johnson and Denise Richards also give wonderfully comic and sweet performances.One may criticize the film for having a naive or romantic notion of pornographic/adult film-making. In a sense, rather than being realistic, this film could be considered more of 1950's movie fantasy in which virginal Doris Day gets turned on, rips off her pajamas, beds Rock Hudson, yet still manages to get married and live happily ever after.Does every film about the pornography movie industry need to be a moral lesson on the terrible abuse that often goes on in that industry. Perhaps from a moralist point of view it does.However, we should consider this film does give a utopian vision of a gentler, more sophisticated porn industry that cares about its performers and especially women. Before condemning it, please consider that "Pretty Woman" also did not show the uglier side of prostitution. If you have protests about the liberal morality of "Finding Bliss," you should have the same protests with "Pretty Woman."
This is not your typical romantic comedy.A young Jewish woman named Jody Balaban ends up editing porn films.There she meets a charming porn director Jeff Drake.Finding Bliss (2009) is directed by Julie Davis.Leele Sobieski is just the right gal to play Jody.Matthew Davis does great work as Jeff.Denise Richards is terrific as Laura/Bliss.Jamie Kennedy is quite funny as Dick Harder.3rd Rock from the Sun's Kristen Johnston is great as Irene.Mircea Monroe is marvelous as Sindi.Caroline Aaron and Tim Bagley are very good as Jody's parents Debra and Alan.Garry Marshall is seen as himself, as is porn legend Ron Jeremy.This is a pretty sweet movie, despite the fact it takes place in the porn industry.It is about these two persons finding each other.At first these two share pretty few similarities.Jody is sexually more conservative while Jeff makes women do all kinds of acts in movies.The movie manages also to be quite funny.Like the dildo business.And it is pretty hot.
Leelee Sobieski's face projects a strange beauty. It's practically a flat plane with two tiny lips above the chin. Her nose isn't prominent but it seems very long. It goes on forever, an Afghanistan war of a nose. Her eyes are set too close together but they're magnetic. They look capable of seeing through things, like an X-ray device. She had an admirable figure too in "Eyes Wide Shut." But this material is autobiographical and, though cute, will probably find a more appreciative audience among women than among men. I'm not being sexist about this. Psychological studies have been done that show a difference between the things that men and women find funny, and this movie, like "Sex And The City," ought to appeal to females.The story itself, no doubt covered elsewhere, has Sobieski as a recent graduate of film school who can only find work as an editor for what the handsome young producer calls "adult entertainment." She has to learn what a "gaper" is. (It's pretty disgusting, if you ask me.) And it's amusing when she's advised to learn the tricks of the trade and snaps back, "Like what? How to get somebody's ass print off your face?" There aren't really enough of those jabs and many of the funny situations depend on our ability to identify with a nice innocent Jewish girl in an absurdly filthy business full of cheerful cynics.All is not lost however. Sobieski is clever enough to borrow the one-room studio's equipment to shoot her own film, though she must hock her grandmother's engagement ring to raise the money to buy the raw stock.And let's not forget that handsome young producer. Aesthetically, he may currently be a ditch digger but he has a golden award for an art film he recently produced. That boy has talent, even if it doesn't run along medical lines. Is that the scent of orange blossoms in the air?
Finding Bliss is promoted almost like a sex comedy, but is not a sex comedy. Instead it is an awkward mix of romantic drama and sex comedy. While trying to do two things, this movie ends up a mess. I don't think it will appeal to wither the male or female demographic. I know that it is a good movie can be equally enjoyed by both sexes, but this tries to combine the genres which have a set audience in mind.It is a B grade movie. Everything from the acting to the script is amateur. Even Leelee Sobieski has done not done a good job. It feels as if that the whole film was made in a hurry. It has production values of straight to DVD sex comedies. The plot and the characters are not believable either. Everything is just to contrived.By the way it is not a sex comedy, so if you are expecting that I recommend you watch something else. I have still given it an average rating though, because though it is a cheap B movie, It knows that it is a cheap B movie and doesn't pretends otherwise. There is a small payoff for those who like romantic movies, but I don't think it is worth it to watch the whole thing.