Price Of An Education, The Review

Reviewed by Saki  on  2/17/2000

The Price of an Education (1998)
Studio: Nu Tech/Legend/Silver Star Entertainment
Directed by: Simon Goldstar
Starring: Nikki Lynn, Emily Jewel, Christgen Wolf, Dru Berrymore, Karya, Vince Vouyer, Guy DiSilva, Tyce Bune, and Herschel Savage
Running Time: 1:16
Format: Single Sided, Dual Layer
DVD Features: Animated menus with full motion video; full motion video chapter selection; 20-image photo gallery; star biographies with full motion video; Dolby Digital and DTS intro trailers; and trailers for The Price of an Education, Coming to Beverly Hills, Sensual Experience, and Sex, Lies and the President.

The First Word: This is a "one-scene wonder" movie that otherwise suffers from an insulting plot, massively inflated tits, and boring sex. Resist the urge to buy it just because it's cheap!

Plot Synopsis: Tracy (Nikki Lynn) is a college student who can't afford to pay her college tuition bill. Her friend, Jen (Christgen Wolf) suggests that Tracy do what she does: work as a high-priced call girl for her boyfriend Mark's escort service. Tracy agrees to give it a shot and the two leave to find Mark (played by Vince Vouyer). Meanwhile, Mark is in a bar and picks up a cute blonde co-ed (Dru Berrymore). They go into the bathroom together and proceed to have sex in the stall. Afterward, Mark asks the girl if she would be interested in sleeping with a friend for $1000, but she slaps him, saying, "What kind of girl do you take me for?!?" Undaunted, he goes back out into the bar and proceeds to try to recruit more escorts when Jen and Tracy arrive. Tracy agrees to have sex with Mark and Jen in exchange for $1000 which she's supposed to spend on her wardrobe so she can look the part of an exclusive escort.

Having past her initial interview with Mark and Jen, she's sent on her first assignment. The customer (Guy DiSilva) takes her back to his mansion overlooking downtown Los Angeles. He gives here a tour of the place before he gets what he paid for. Next, Mark sends another one of his girls, Cindy (Emily Jewel), to service a pair of businessmen (Tyce Bune and Herschel Savage) in a posh hotel. Of course, Jen is put to work as well, servicing a woman client (Karya) in a tubside encounter with a strap-on playing a major role. Finally, Mark, Jen, and Tracy toast to their success, and Jen realizes she doesn't have to worry about the "price of an education" anymore.

Notable Performances: There's only one scene that I'll classify as hot in this video, and it's the first sex scene of the movie between Vince Vouyer and Dru Berrymore (who has a passing resemblance to the mainstream actress). Dru definitely looks the part of a college co-ed, dressed in a midriff top, button-up sweater and short skirt. It starts out with a great blowjob, followed by some acrobatic sex in the bathroom stall. Unlike most adult scenes (oral, oral, two or three positions, and cumshot), they switch positions five or six times. Not only are the in-your-face penetration shots creative, but they are well-lit and crystal clear. Even though the scene is rather short (10 minutes), it's one of the hottest quickies I've seen in a while.

Dislikes: Except for Dru, Karya, and Vince, the rest of the cast isn't that good looking, at least according to my standards (wow, I can't believe I singled out Vince Voyuer as being attractive!). The other girls have overinflated boobs and an assortment of tattoos and piercings, and really don't look at all like college aged girls, but rather ones in their late 20s. If I were in the market for $1000/night call girls (which I'm not!), I would be disappointed if they showed up at my door. The guys aren't much better...perhaps they fit the part of older johns who would hire prostitutes, but I really don't watch porn to see that sort of realism.

Don't get this disc if you're looking for a comedy or drama, or any sort of legitimate plot. This is the type of porno who's script was written in a day and produced in a day. The premise is completely unrealistic with totally unbelievable dialogue. It might have worked if the sex was great throughout or if it was written as a comedy, but it's not, on both counts. I was completely unimpressed, and if I didn't have to review this DVD, I would have just fast forwarded through most of the movie.

It also drives me absolutely nuts to see misspelled credits. I know that porn stars often change names and spellings, but in this case it seems to be a case where the person who was doing the titling for the movie called on the phone and asked who was in the picture. From there, he or she probably didn't know the correct spelling of the porn stars' names and just spelled them phonetically. Hence, "Christian Wolf," "Emily Jul," and "Jice Bune" instead of "Christgen Wolf," "Emily Jewel," and "Tyce Bune." There's nothing like misspellings to erode the credibility of movie before it even starts. Another pet peeve is when the boxcover has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the movie. In this case, why is Vince dressed like a college student in a cap & gown when he is a pimp? Judging by his dialogue, it doesn't sound like he's ever been on college campus except maybe to recruit new blood.

DVD Notes: This disc is billed as a "Collectors Edition," but it's one of the weakest of the "modern" Nu Tech discs...no cool extras (though I can see why--the movie is nothing to write home about and none of the girls have any sort of fan following). The video quality ranges from just about perfect to really bad, but the original video footage is to blame for any problematic points. In particular, the first couple of seconds of the movie look like they were recorded with a broken video camera. Also, many of the location coverage shots (scene transitions showing the outside of a building) were taken at night, and look really bad on video. There are also a few minor video dropouts, with momentary video "hiccups." The audio may be presented in surround sound, but that does absolutely no good when the mike placement doesn't pick up the voices well to begin with. I kept on having to adjust the volume up (to even understand the dialogue) and down (for the moaning and screaming). All of these things only add to the cheesy appearance of this movie.

The Last Word: Even though this title is cheap, since there's only one good scene on the disc, I wouldn't waste your money. I'd even go as far as saying that you probably could go into a video store blindfolded and randomly pick a better porno than this one. This is one DVD that fits the saying, "You get what you pay for."