Sleepless (Caballero) Review

Reviewed by Diville  on  12/18/2000

Starring: Roxanne Blaze (Sarah Bellomo), Rebecca Bardoux, Isis Nile, Sahara Sands, Sean Michaels, T.T. Boy, Marc Wallice

Directed By: Frank Marino

Pssst...let me let you in on a little secret. If you read down the list of credits for Caballero's Sleepless you'll find among the more familiar names a credit for Sarah Bellomo. Though she's buried among more recognizable actresses, she's the actual star of the movie. But that's not the secret. Sarah Bellomo is actually Roxanne Blaze, who like many pornstars, worked under a very temporary alias after first entering the business. That might not be news to some, but for many, Roxanne Blaze equals sex. She was not in the sex-for-entertainment business for very long, but while in front of the cameras Roxanne was placed upon a pedestal and considered by many to be the next big thing. Or, the only thing. The porn chosen one, even. Unfortunately, she didn't stick around very long, and the world is a little darker because of it. But here she is in a "before they were famous" performance fans and completists will want to consider.

Best known for her roll in Jusine: Nothing to Hide 2, Roxanne is a beautiful, completely natural, fresh faced blond who comes across as more genuine than most. Sleepless, on the other hand is a pretty bad movie poorly transferred to DVD. The bottom line is if you are a Roxanne Blaze fan, then here are two of her scenes--one with T.T. Boy and the other with Sean Michaels-- that you may not have known even existed. Often found online for under ten bucks, it's worth picking up just for her alone.

There's a story here, too. Of sorts. Sean Michaels is a late night disc jockey suffering from intimacy problems, and Roxanne is his thoughtful, yet sexy, producer. While not having sex, or thinking about other people having sex, he takes calls from lonely insomniacs. Despite the fact he gets to fuck Roxanne in the movie's finale, I feel sorry for Michaels for having to deliver such excruciatingly bad dialogue in an inconsequential plot. Though his voice can't be heard, one suspects director Frank Marino is just off camera ordering "make it worse...you're not acting bad enough...give me more insincerity." A near empty set with a mattress would have been just as interesting.

As for the sex, well that's not so great except for Roxanne's two scenes. Rebecca Bardoux, who I've always thought was underrated, here is under whelmed. Yes, her legs are still over three miles long, but she appears to enjoy sex about as well as I enjoy bad opera. Isis Nile, who has her own loyal following shows up twice, but perhaps should have stayed home. Like Roxanne, Nile's performance in Sleepless predates her fame and she just doesn't carry herself like a true sex star. In fact, she doesn't even look like a true sex star. Her hair is shorn and her tits have yet to be enhanced. In fact, she looks like an amateur who has just walked over from one of Ed Powers' Dirty Debutantes shoots.

Obviously, Cabellero mined this one from their vaults because they know there's a market for Roxanne Blaze movies. I think they're right. She looks amazing--not in a glamorous supermodel way, but in the white hot girl next door way. She rides T.T. Boy as if sex was a sporting event, and with Sean Michaels her natural body glows with sweat (some hers, a lot of it his). Still, Justine: Nothing to Hide 2 offers more of her, is shot better, and is more entertaining; it's simply a better choice for the uninitiated. After watching her once, though, you are likely to want more, and even more likely to become frustrated that she made so few movies (fewer still have made their way to DVD). I don't want this to sound like a glowing endorsement of Sleepless; the video is sub-par and the audio isn't very good either. In fact, this is a poorly constructed DVD all the way around. But if you just have to have more Roxanne Blaze in you DVD collection, and if you've got an extra ten bucks in your pocket, then maybe this will satiate your needs.