Crossroads (Wicked) Review

Typical Hater
Someone who fast forwards through dialogue and prefers harder sex

Themes
Boobs, facials, car sex, blowjobs, piercings

Condoms
Yes (mandatory studio policy)

If You Liked This DVD, You Should Enjoy
Most Wicked features directed by Brad Armstrong

Video Captures
Click for larger size

The First Word: This is a great movies for couples:  the story is simple but not insulting, the cinematography is well-done, and the sex is honest and generally safe for beginning porn viewers (i.e. no anal, no girl-girl, no DP's, no orgies, etc.).

What's It About?:  Crossroads is a tale set in small town America, broken into three vignettes.  The first story stars Stephanie Swift as Tammy and Erik Everhard as Steven, two high school seniors who decide to finally give themselves to each other.  Despite Stephanie being more than 10 years older than the character she plays, she fits the role of the teenager well as the couple first grope then go further in a barn.  Although they definitely are fucking like it's not their first time (gee, go figure!), the resulting coupling is pretty hot.  Fans of spinners riding on big dicks will definitely appreciate the pairing.  There's no cumshot in this scene, but that fits into the story later on.

Coral Sands is the main character in the second storyline, a waitress in a country diner named Velvet. In less than a minute from the opening fade-in, she's making out with the chef, Harvey (Herschel Savage) in the closed diner at night.  Coral is a really cute brunette with enhanced, yet nice, breasts.  Herschel, well, is Herschel, and he fits the character of Harvey well and continues to hold his own against just about any porn stud, many of them 20 years younger.   This sex scene is notable for the nice blowjob with eye contact that Coral gives Herschel, as well as the nice, wet penetration shot as the two fuck doggy style in the diner.  The tryst ends with a good oral cumshot as she is lying on the diner's counter.

From there, the third story begins with Tera Patrick in her second movie ever as trailer trash honey Suzie.  Her boyfriend, Jimmy (Alec Metro), comes home to the trailer (well, an RV actually) and gets a blowjob from Tera in his skivvies and cowboy boots.  The two really get the RV rockin' as newbie Tera gets slammed reverse cowgirl.  For those who can't tell the difference between large natural breasts and bolt-ons, this scene is a lesson in the hypnotic bouncing of real boobs.

After sex, the trailer couple drive their beat-up muscle car to the town garage for some gas.  There, 'Suzie' has eyes for Randy the mechanic (Mickey G.), infuriating 'Jimmy.'  As they pull away after arguing, we see the couple in the first story pull up.  'Tammy' is upset and 'Steven' doesn't understand why.  When pushed, she reveals that she's pregnant -- "maybe the condom broke," she explains.

Back to the diner, where 'Velvet' is taking an order from a passerby, played by Tony Tedeschi.  Tony delivers his lines of his character 'Smooth' in the vocal styling of Alec Baldwin.  He tries to pick her up with some sweet talk, but she stops him cold.  So he changes his tack and expresses his attraction to her.   If she's willing to go with him, he'll take her with him, he tells her.  On her break, 'Velvet' goes with him to his Lincoln suicide convertible behind the diner, and since they are in a sleepy town, they can go down on each other in broad daylight.  Well, twilight actually, as her break extends well into the evening as Tony probes her pierced pussy.  'Harvey' comes back (via time travel, it seems since night is now day) to find 'Velvet' getting ready to take off with the drifter.  In his best New York wiseguy posture, he takes a baseball bat and chases 'Smooth' off.

The plot switches back to our high school couple in trouble as 'Steven' faces off with his dad who wants him to dump his girlfriend and take advantage of his full football scholarship.  Next, we're back to Mr. Trailer Trash, and we learn that he's not only the jealous type, but the unfaithful type as well.   Alexa Rae (playing Tonja the town slut) gives him a blowjob as they move around in yet another vintage convertible.

Working up to the final sex scene, 'Suzie' pays a visit to the garage to get a soda and also get some refreshment from grease monkey 'Randy.'  As fate has it, her boyfriend pulls up with his blowjob buddy next to him.  He makes 'Tonja' hide in the front seat and then resumes his jealous I-don't-have-to-put-up-with-your-shit attitude with 'Suzie.'  The tables are turned though, when we discover that 'Suzie' is not the only one who's straying.  So, with the relationship entanglement out of the way, Tera gives Mickey G. a great blowjob then rides him reverse cowgirl and finishes him off orally (including the dreaded "eye shot").

With the sex complete, the only duty for Writer/Producer/Director Brad Armstrong is to pull the loose ends of the stories together in a convenient and sappy way.  It's not going to win any screenplay awards, but overall the quality of the story matched with the appropriateness (!) of the sex will resonate well with couples and fans of more traditional adult features.

What I liked:  What, no girl-girl?  And no anal?:  I'm all for lesbian scenes, but they are so widespread that you can almost never find a video anymore that doesn't have at least one token girl-girl scene in it.  This makes it difficult to recommend boy-girl only couples movies (since not everyone is comfortable with homosexual porn).   Likewise with anal -- I don't recall seeing any in this movie (don't shoot me if I'm wrong -- my memory isn't what it used to be).  Anyway, it's refreshing to see an adult movie without a DP or a chick getting in the butt piledriver-style.  Not that anal is bad, it's just that it's become so overused now that it's hard to find anything without anal anymore.

It looks great all around:  This thing was filmed in only two days but has some great camera shots, set locations, and dialogue sequences.  I've seen a lot of mainstream B-movies that don't have as much production value or as decent a storyline.  I can think of only a few pornos that come close to the mainstream feel of this movie (and many of them are Wicked productions).  Even during the sex, you'll be hard pressed to see the same angles used from scene to scene, and the action itself is varied and original.  Kudos to Brad Armstrong for putting in the extra effort in this "show" to make it different from the rest of the field. 

What I didn't like:  I have very few complaints about this DVD...it's a great example of what is possible in only two days of shooting if you have a good script, a talented crew, and a balanced cast.  If I had to knock anything, it's that some of the scenes, such as the first scene with Tera and the blowjob-only sequence with Alexa, were pretty boring in my book.  Not that they were bad, it's just that it didn't have the same erotic charge as the others.  Finally, even though Crossroads is definitely X-rated, it doesn't even come close to a raincoater video -- I wouldn't even consider it if I was in a solo mood.

DVD Extras:  I've become a fan of the behind-the-scenes videos that are fixture of Brad Armstrong DVD's, and the behind-the-scenes of Crossroads lives up to my expectations.  A nice, 20-minute combination of behind-the-scenes, bloopers, gags, candid moments, and interviews with the stars, this is a great supplement to the movie, especially when combined with the audio commentary.  Speaking of the commentary, it features Brad Armstrong and Stephanie Swift and is fun to listen to.  It's a really informal track, as there are several interruptions along the way, such as an incoming cell call that Brad decides to take and both of them eating lunch during the recording.  Other extras include Wicked's well-known audio biographies, several trailers, about 50 images between two photo galleries, and a very nice animated main menu that reminds me of the mainstream "X-Files" movie DVD.  It's quite an extras package for such a "standard" release.

A/V Quality: Video and audio quality are excellent.  Crossroads was shot on video, so it does have a more vivid and crisp feel than you would find on film, but it's very high quality video regardless.  I saw no signs of pixelation, video glitches, or audio defects.  It's A/V the way I like it:  unobtrusive and unremarkable.  Once you start thinking about the presentation and not the content, it's a lost cause since the whole purpose of pornography is to suspend belief and present a fantasy world.  That's really hard to do if you can't hear what's going on or if the picture is flawed.  Fortunately for this DVD, the presentation blends into the background to the point you take it for granted -- and that's a good thing.

The Last Word: It's amazing to consider that this feature was shot in only two days -- I think it looks and feels better than the very expensive and much lauded blockbuster Dream Quest (filmed around the same time and by the same people).  It's one that I didn't mind watching from cover to cover without going for my remote control.   It's a pity that it seems to have been overlooked by the adult world.  True, it doesn't have the flashiness of a big budget production or the star power of someone like Jenna Jameson, but it really works as a change of pace.  I have no trouble recommending this one to couples just getting started in porn viewing, and I think a lot of fans of the "old days" of porn will appreciate it as well.

- Saki (saki@my.adultdvdtalk.com)