Marie And Jack: A Hardcore Love Story Review
Comstock FilmsCast
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 In
today's adult video world, with its contract stars, well-known directors, and
flood of product, it's worth a look when an independently produced release, let
alone a company's debut, is acclaimed enough to make a wide variety of critics'
lists as a top video of the year or a must see. I decided to check out
Tony Comstock's documentary Marie and Jack: A Harcore Love Story to see
what all the buzz is about.Marie and Jack is an interview with Marie Silva (now going by the name Aria) and her real-life husband Jack Bravo (also an adult performer). They talk about what attracted them to each other, how they deal with working in the industry, the difference between their work and private sex, and more. Brief intercuts of sex punctuate the interview, anticipating the sex scene that closes the film. Viewers will be struck at the honestly, intimacy, and levels of trust and understanding about each other the two share, both in the interview and in their lovemaking. The last 16-minutes is a record of their "personal sex," shot by two cameras in a continuous take from start to finish. At the risk of developing split personalities, I'll go both ways on Marie and Jack. It is a refreshing change of pace from the relentless flood of circus porn and staged sex. It does capture the honesty and love between the couple. And it does have the nervous feel of an amateur video--real and not what you'd expect from performers used to fucking on camera. I also like the up-front honesty--no scripts and no pretending that Marie and Jack are just an "average couple." Finally, as they mention in the video, the sex is simple. There's something very comforting and reassuring about that. As my wife said after watching it, "Wow, I suddenly feel normal" in our lovemaking. If that doesn't tell you something about the majority of pornography out there, I don't know what would. On the other hand, it may be unnerving for some couples to watch Marie and Jack together since there's a definite emphasis on the pair's occupation. Sensitive or judgmental viewers may feel uncomfortable as Marie and Jack casually themes such as swinging, girl-girl, facial cumshots, working together, and working apart. Next, I found the format and editing slightly disorganized, as the topics of the interview seems to jump randomly and the alternation between sex and interview footage is not always consistent. Further, the depth of documentary is extremely shallow, undoubtedly to fit into a 30-minute short film format. I would have loved to watch another 30 minutes or an hour--it's that fascinating. Putting on my raincoat, I'll say that the erotic appeal is fairly high thanks mostly to the home video/amateur feel of the sex. Still, aside from a very hot cowgirl penetration angle, the actual sex is going to be too short and too tame if you're watching only to get off. Of course, if that's why you're watching, you're missing the point (As Jack says, they do some wild and crazy stuff in their professional life, but at home, they tend to stick with the simple things they've always done). Still, I think that it bears mentioning that the sex only runs the length of a standard adult scene in total. Even with the multiple angle feature (which, in my opinion, is not really necessary since Tony Comstock did a good job of editing the master shot from the two angles), it's still a quick viewing. I can't say I completely agree with the completely gushing reviews of Marie and Jack I've seen. With the short running time and the lack of extras, I would normally be pretty harsh on any other DVD. But the unique and successful goal to show as accurate depiction of the private life of two porn stars pushes my rating higher than the sum of the DVD's parts. I don't think it's a must-own, but unless your only objective is to see as many body parts bumping together as possible, Marie and Jack: A Hardcore Lovestory is definitely a must see, preferably with your sexual partner next to you. And if this is an indication of what's to come from Comstock Films, I can't wait for the next one! Note: This review is based on the professionally duplicated DVD version of the video available as of February 2004. An earlier DVD-R version was available, but according to Comstock Films, all retailers sold out of the DVD-R versions in November of 2003, so all new copies will be pressed DVDs.
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The opinions expressed in this review of Marie And Jack: A Hardcore Love Story from Comstock Films are not necessarily the opinions of Adult DVD Talk. Adult DVD Talk provides a public forum for consumers to post their DVD reviews. Adult DVD Talk does not edit these reviews.