Heartache (Wicked) Review

Reviewed by Principal Skinner  on  3/28/2001

Golden girl Missy looks sweetly demure, but always desirable in HEARTACHE, a Brad Armstrong- directed feature video about infidelity and temptation, which are always dependable vehicles for hot sex in any porn film, or any Fox-TV show for that matter. Old man Herschel Savage plays the husband of young Missy, who has a sexual longing and need for fulfillment which is convincing in this soap opera-ish tale (thankfully, the title of this movie has nothing to do with that old Bonnie Tyler song from the late seventies). The movie takes place amidst Spanish settings and costumes, which add to the feel and texture to the story. Wicked never ever cheats on giving their viewers simply superb production designs, and the attention to detail here (and in any porno) should be noted and appreciated.

The tension is sparked by the appearance of drifter Tyce Bune, who stumbles upon Herschel's estate, and who is not at all shy about expressing his interest in Missy. After a few sexual interludes amongst the rest of the cast in this movie, Tyce and Missy do get together, but the movie ends with her tragic demise (sorry if I spoiled the ending!). To paraphrase Milhouse Van Houten, "they were supposed to be like Romeo and Juliet, but it ended in tragedy!" Since porn is meant for escapist entertainment (among other uses), I was surprised to see the film take its plot so seriously. But director Brad Amrstrong stays true to the story he has written (or at least adapted), and his movie maintains its dramatic integrity.

Following some letterboxed opening credits, Stephanie Swift kicks the movie into gear with an outdoor threesome with Ian Daniels and Steve Hatcher. As expected, the star of Wicked's SEX SAFARI does good work here, getting on all fours for a doggy-style pounding while sucking on Steve's cock. As the scene progresses, Stephanie sheds off more of her clothing in bits and pieces, which is a nice tease and preferable to the usual sucking and fucking scene where the girls are all buck naked fromt he star. Stephanie looks great, althought the little Superman curl on her forehead was more peculiar than attractive.

One of the highlights of the film is a pseudo- orgy which takes place on an outdoor set with three couples (composed of Stephanie Swift, Syren and Sydney Steele [a lot of s's there]) and Mickey G, Tyce and the director himself). The sex here is top-notch, and expert performers like Sydney Steele do some of their best work in group settings. Facials and oral cumshots are noticeably absent, but isn't seriously detrimental to one's enjoyment of the video. I don't suppose that a movie with this kind of romantic storyline would require the kind of cum- swapping and semen swallowing that raincoaters (including myself) enjoy seeing in videos by Anabolic or Diabolic, but a little more nastiness would have been nice.

Seeing Missy in action is always enjoyable; I have yet to see her perform badly in a scene (although she has performed in some badly directed scenes in her career). Her passionate attitude is convincing, and when she and Tyce get together, it looks and feels genuinely loving. Inexplicably, we are denied watching her give head to Mr. Bune, which is disappointing. Luckily, Liza Harper does great blowjob work on Herschel Savage, which Missy is forced to watch as partial punishment for her indiscretion. Bruntte beauty Liza has always been an underrates performer, and it's good to see her in a high budget video where her work will not be missed.

By far, however, the best scene in the flick is an all-girl threesome with Stephanie, Petra and Charlie which is full of luscious wet kissing and enthusiastic labia lapping. The women wield all sorts of colorful dildos in and out of each other's quims, although fans of anal penetration will have little of that to find here. I also found this vignette to be a little short on time (which is a rarity, since most girl-girl scenes go on for so long that I become bored to death), but that is a testament to the simple greatness of this warm and delicate lesbian scene.

The video quality is superb; although it doesn't have the same richness of film, there are some spectacular outdoor shots which give this video an upper-crust sheen. Missy, in particular, is photographed beautifully. She looks so sophisticated and gorgeous, that's it's hard to believe that this girl did some amazingly extreme work in videos like THE GANGBANG GIRL #17, where she literally drinks down a syringe full of splooge. Audio quality is also fine, with an original score and clear dialogue. The video lacks a Behind the Scenes featurette, which is disappointing for a project of this magnitude, but the biographies section and the behind the scenes photos are enjoyable.

It is my understanding that this movie is heavily derived from an old Kevin Costner/Madeline Stowe flop from several years back. Since I generally avoid his movies, I can't comment on any comparisons. Suffice to say, HEARTACHE is an ambitious movie that succeeds in giving the viewer high quality, couples-oriented adult entertainment. But for a studio like Wicked, that is just par for the course!