Bad Penny (Adam & Eve) Review

Reviewed by Principal Skinner  on  1/30/2001

Directed by legendary Bob Chinn, a director who has been in the business when Traci Lords' videos were "legal" (and who actually made a movie or two with her in them), BAD PENNY is a surprisingly pedestrian affair, despite the presence of the equally legendary Nina Hartley, who plays the title role. Even though this DVD has been released under the Adam & Eve "Premium Collection" label, the contents in terms of story and extras are nothing special, and in fact, barely rise above average. Even more disappointing, the mature but still beautiful Ms. Hartley only appears in two straight guy-girl scenes, both of which take place in the same room with the same guy! So in reality, the viewer gets only four different scenes in this flick, none of which are wholly memorable.

The plot is about seems rather complicated at first, but once you realize that the story really doesn't go anywhere, you can break it down to its basic elements. Married woman Nina Hartley plays Penny, who encounters tough guy Tony Tedeschi after husband James Bonn is left lying unconscious in the middle of some small town. Mike Horner and Tina Tyler play local cops, and Billy Glide and Sheana Steel play witnesses (and later suspects) to Penny's "disappearance." The entire story is absolutely inconsequential, although the actors play their parts with a such seriousness, that I could not figure out whether I was watching a clever satire, or a double parody, or whatever. All I know, however, is that once the James Bonn and Tina Tyler's bathroom romp is over at approximately the one- hour mark into the movie, there was no reason for me to continue watching the remaining twenty sex- less minutes.

For some reason, director Chinn has chosen to hide Nina's golden locks under a short, black wig during her encounter with the over-acting Tony Tedeschi, perhaps as a symbolic look of dark, sexual evil...who really knows? The duality in Penny's character is only superficially explored, and adds no extra heat to her repeated coupling with Tony. For the most part, however, their fuck and suck scene is slowly paced and passionate, thanks to Nina's smoldering sensuality. Prolonged kissing shots and convincing acting by the featured starlet elevate what is essentially a routine hotel room romp into something above average. But after he cums in her mouth, the movie drags on with more deathless dialogue before the next encounter is initiated.

After a brief lesbian interlude between Shaena and Tina --- which was good, but not great, and certainly not enough to save this flick --- Nina and Tony go for round two, which certainly felt like a rip-off in my mind. Had they changed scenery, or put Nina in a different outfit (and removed that hideous wig), then I might have forgiven what looked like a mere extension of their first scene. Instead, it seemed like the director just killed time waiting for Tony to get his juices flowing again so he could spill his seed all over Nina's perfectly-shaped ass.

The only other scene which was a bit more than passable was the opening Shaena Steel/Billy Glide barnyard affair (sans animals, of course...this ain't Europe after all) which showed off Shaena's teriffic oral skills, but was oftentimes clumsily photographed with bad angles and off-center close- ups. It should be noted that with a limited cast of three actresses, and with Nina appearing in only one extended scene, the viewer doesn't get much in the way of variety.

The extras include a brief, but fairly up to date, biography of Nina, Mike and Tina (Nina's bio mentions her celebrated appearance in BOOGIE NIGHTS). As noted in the discussion of Adult DVD Talk, Adam & Eve has thankfully forgone the "Hot Shot" apple logo which first made an appearance on the video screen in Tera Patrick's SEX ISLAND. Clicking on this graphic from the "Chapter Selection" menu allows the viewer to jump to the climactic parts of each scene, but given the dearth of quality hardcore on this video, I doubt anyone will really use it. Otherwise, both picture and sound are good, and meet the high standards of most Adam & Eve releases. The ten trailers on this disc are fun to watch, but will make you wish you were watching those videos instead of BAD PENNY.

For anyone who might not otherwise be familiar with the erotic expertise of Nina Hartley, or the legendary works of Bob Chinn, I would hate to think of anybody passing judgment on them based on this very lackluster DVD. But given the results here, this is one film which neither of them should put on their porn resume.

BAD PENNY is not worth your two cents.