Habits Of The Heart Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  9/19/2003

Running Time: 86 min.

Production Date: 8 / 1997

Director: Thomas Paine

Cast: Stacy Valentine, Aja, J. R. Carrington, Raylene, Alec Metro, Billy Glide, John Decker, and Peter North

Initial Expectations: Thomas Paine has rarely impressed me much, so I don’t have much for hopes here.

Initial Reaction: It’s very hit or miss, and sadly misses about as often as it hits.

Who Should Watch It : Couples wanting a bit of a romantic story with their sex

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody wanting to see well done camera work

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects leave more than a little to be desired. The audio is frequently out of balance and has plenty of background noises, some of which almost completely obscure the movie. The video is just as bad. There’s plenty of remnants, it’s extremely grainy, and looks like it should be about ten years older than it actually is.

Music: The music is normally a little on the loud side and is pretty typical porno music.

Menus: The menus are completely awe inspiring, but not in the way awe inspiring is supposed to be. The main menu lets you choose between the movie and the chapter menu. The chapter menu lets you choose a scene based on a still of each scene and a chapter number. This was a very early DVD for Adam & Eve, so in a way it is awe inspiring to see how far they’ve come.

The Feature: At one time, Stacy Valentine and Alec Metro madly in love. They go their separate ways where he follows his dream of becoming a pilot while she follows her dream of becoming an actress. Several years later they bump into each other again when Stacy gets into Alec’s cab, and after recognizing each other head off to catch up.

Stacy Valentine and Alec Metro start things out next to a pool. Alec carries Stacy over to some cushions by the pool and frees her from her ever-so-restrictive sundress and kisses her tits before literally ripping off his pants so she can suck his cock until it turns hard. She energetically mouths Alec’s rod while often cooing softly, and also gives him some great eye contact. Alec returns the favor in kind, tonguing Stacy’s twat with some good energy as she thrusts it against his mouth. Alec slides himself up and into Stacy as she lays there to start fucking her, and takes the time to lick her from behind when she rolls over before he starts fucking her again. After a bit of energetic doggie style, Alec and Stacy return to the missionary position, with Alec decorating Stacy’s entire front to finish things off.

This is a hot scene that has some very good chemistry. Stacy and Alec really seem to enjoy each other, and put in some nice energy. There’s also some great romance and caring towards the end when Alec uses a towel to wipe the spooge from Stacy’s eye.

Raylene and John Decker get it on next. Raylene starts out mouthing his manhood before laying back so he can tongue her twat and finger her ass. She stays back for John to fuck her missionary style, giving her nubbin’ a good rubbin’ while John moves around to half-spoon her. They get a little doggie style in before John finally pops on Raylene’s ass.

This is a hot scene! Raylene and John both look to really be into the action, and put some nice energy into it. It’s also helped a little by John whispering dirty nothings at Raylene as he fucks her by giving it a little dirtier feel. There’s nothing really nasty about the scene, but something about it just feels really dirty. It’s a good thing!

Stacy Valentine gets it on with Billy Glide after he takes some pictures of her wearing only a fishnet outfit and some black boots. He tongues her twat as she lays back on the couch before trading places with her so he can get his stick sucked. She moves up to dryfuck Billy cowgirl style before laying back to take some nice missionary action. They move through a bit of doggie, pile driver, cowgirl, and a bit more missionary before Billy gives Stacy the facial finish.

Somebody should be taken out and shot for this scene. Stacy is cute as can be and looks to get into it very well, but the camera barely captures it at all. You barely get to see Stacy’s face, and at times even have a hard time seeing her body! Virtually everything about this scene should be on a “what not to do in a porno” list.

Alec Metro takes on the gorgeous brunette Aja after falling of the wagon. They go from trying to deal with Alec’s drinking problem to falling on the bed with Aja falling out of her dress and Alec completely fallen out of his clothes as she shows him something better than a drink. He slowly tongues her twat before laying back and letting Aja slowly work him over orally. She climbs up to ride him cowgirl style before bending over to get boned from behind. They finish things up with a bit of spooning and Alex decorating Aja’s stomach.

This is a hot scene that never makes it there due to some horrible camera work. During the cowgirl position it looks like the camera was just laid on the dresser since it was at the right height to see them. The rest of the positions aren’t quite as limited, but there are so many close-ups that if you started out in the middle of the scene you might not have a clue who’s fucking for a couple minutes. It’s too bad because Alec and Aja put some great energy into the scene and seem to have nice chemistry. There are a few positions where you can see it, but it’s not a common occurrence.

Stacy Valentine gets it on with J. R. Carrington in the final scene. Peter just wants to watch, so he lets JR work Stacy over with a vibe and tongue her holes as he watches. Stacy returns the favor with another dildo before Peter decides they deserve some real cock. The girls team up to work on Peter orally, giving both his cock and his nipples some nice attention, before letting the girls share a patented Peter peter pop.

Although once again horribly photographed, this scene doesn’t come out as bad and is actually one of the best in the feature. Most of the reason is Peter North, who’s a riot watching. He plays with himself gently while the girls work on each other, and even claps his hands when he really likes what they’re doing. The girls don’t hurt anything here as they both look like they’re having a great time with each other as well as with Peter. This would be one heck of a ball draining scene if it had some decent camera work.

Habits of the Heart is a decently done couples movie that doesn’t feel like it makes it up to its full potential. The story is nicely done, but in the end it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Maybe this is the point here, but with the romantic feeling it ends up a letdown. The sex is just as much of a letdown. There’s some great chemistry and energy to the scenes, but the camera work is horrible. There were some scenes where I think I wanted a different angle more than three quarters of the scene! There were even entire minutes (that’s plural meaning more than one) where you never got to see anybody’s face due to the angle of the shot. These performers deserved better than that, as Habits of the Heart is a disappointment rather than a delight.

Extras: None

Themes: Straight, spanking, voyeurism, lesbian, toys, rimming (female > female), group, and oral

Condoms Usage: Between John Decker and Raylene

Raincoat Factor: Medium high

Overall: Currently, Adam & Eve DVDs can be found online for between $7 and $25, with this line of DVDs often being available for around $10. This is way too high for what you get here even at the low end. The movie has some decent heart, but the camera work often sucks. There aren’t any extras and the technical aspects are also lacking.

Note to Adam & Eve: I realize that this is one of your earliest DVDs. Although it’s very disappointing now, it’s great to see how far you’ve come.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

Other reviews by Astroknight