Serenity In Denim Review

Reviewed by Nat Hocken  on  12/28/2003

When I was growing up my friends and I all had our own ideas about the ideal measurements for a woman. My ideal was 36-24-36. You gotta love a woman whose body so perfectly embodies your boyhood fantasy, as Serenity’s does mine. And she’s pretty, to boot. Though there’s little enough reason for this film to be called “Serenity in Denim,” she is the featured performer, appearing in three of the film’s six scenes and running the sexual gamut from straight (a boy/girl coupling with Brad Armstrong) to lesbian (a threeway with Shayla LaVeaux and Felecia) to bisexual (a scene with Sydnee Steele and Ian Daniels). You probably already know which of these you’re likely to prefer; I figured, for me, it would be the lesbian threesome.

Brad Armstrong has made a pretty movie. Gorgeous women, nice clothes, excellent lighting, evocative, well-dressed sets. Each scene has its own visual theme; yes, it’s superficial, but it is pretty. At least one reviewer has likened Armstrong’s visual approach to MTV. There’s no dialogue, he ratchets the sex sounds way down, and overlays music on every one of his scenes. The difference, though, is that a music video, though flashy, gives us the music—every bit of it. Armstrong, by all but eliminating the voices of the actors, only gives us part of the sex. I find that distancing.

Never more so than in the fifth scene, with Alexa Rae and Devin Wolf. Despite the kissing with which the scene begins, despite Wolf’s expression of wonderment that he’s getting to screw this Georgia peach, the music is thrown up like a wall between us and any emotional involvement in the action. It’s a scene that should have been much better than it is.

Though it never helps, it isn’t really the music that undercuts most of the other scenes, it’s what’s mirrored in the music: a distance, a disinterest shared by far too many members of the cast. On a physical level, “Serenity in Denim” doesn’t disappoint: the cast is lovely, the images are polished, and the sex covers all the bases. All that is the flash. What this movie lacks is the heat that ought to go with it.

Take that lesbian scene. Turns out that Shayla LaVeaux is the best thing about it, and only because, by flashing a couple of pretty smiles while Felecia is working on her, she injects a little warmth into it. Neither Serenity nor Felecia seems entirely comfortable. A rainy street scene that takes place on and beside a 50’s automobile, it features each of the girls in her own brightly colored mini-dress: Serenity’s pink, Felecia’s green, and Shayla’s yellow. Armstrong adds a nice touch by giving them vibrators that are similarly color-coded. It was, I guess, too much to resist: it’s a vibe-heavy scene when I wanted to see these girls muff-diving for pearls. It ends undramatically with Felecia and Shayla stroking their own asses with the vibes while Serenity does the same to her pussy. (The Behind the Scenes segment shows the girls shivering under a blanket after being drenched by Armstrong’s hoses. That may explain why two of the three appear a little out of it. Shayla’s reaction, on the other hand, is probably due to the fact that Felecia, according to Shayla’s own website, just might be her favorite female performer.)

Serenity does her best work, or she works the hardest, I think, in the movie’s final scene, a threesome she shares with Sydnee Steele and Ian Daniels. She’s into her scene with Armstrong, but it’s one of those serious fuck pieces that make sex seem obligatory rather than fun; then, too, Armstrong is rather mechanical. At least he does his part. In the last scene, Sydnee doesn’t help much; Serenity has to carry the burden of girl/girl until even she all but gives up in the final segment, during which about all she does is repeatedly empty a sponge over Sydnee’s body. Still, it’s nice watching her lick Sydnee’s ass while the latter blows Daniels.

I don’t know why, but though I’ve reviewed a couple of other movies French chick Dolly Golden has been in, I’ve never mentioned her. In fact, seeing her posing with Tabitha Stevens (most of the scenes in this film begin with the girls posing, a la Michael Ninn) I was less attracted by her than her co-star. Tabitha’s prettier. But Dolly looks better during sex. Tabitha’s one of those girls who ought to relax a little; she gets that hard “Fuck me!” look on her face during sex. What kills this scene, though, is a common enough complaint: it’s a threeway that doesn’t keep everyone engaged, and Tabitha’s the weakest link. While she’s being fucked by Price, Dolly sits on her face. Tabitha doesn’t entirely ignore her, but she gives up much too soon. Later, while Dolly’s getting it in the ass in the reverse cowgirl, Tabitha shoves in a vibe for some double-penetration. Inexplicably, after three or four strokes, the vibe comes out and Tabitha stands back uselessly. The scene ends with the usual double facial, but the girls don’t seal the deal with a kiss.

Dolly’s second scene is much better. Called “Bad to the Bone” in the disc’s Scene Selection menu, it’s a 6-person group scene built on a motorcycle motif. Thankfully it’s neither an orgy scene nor a strict 3-couple tryst. Starring Dolly, Amber Michaels, Sterling, Armstrong, Jon Dough, and Steve Drake, it’s an excellent illustration of how a group scene ought to be shot and choreographed: without confusion and with plenty of variety. It begins with three terrific blowjobs delivered simultaneously, then branches out. In addition to a little girl/girl action between Amber Michaels and Sterling (action that is—perhaps because I didn’t see it coming—all the more exciting), the scene has couples sex, an MMF double-team on Sterling (when Steve Drake cums on her face, both of them disappear from the scene), anal sex (by both Amber and Dolly—one of the nice things about Dolly’s scene with Tabitha was seeing her get her ass fingered by Price), as well as all the usual male-female activity. It’s energetic, well edited, and the hottest scene in a movie that is, otherwise, a lot friendlier to the eyes than the libido.