Turning Point Review

Reviewed by astroknight  on  10/25/2002

Running Time: 112 min.

Production Date: 10 / 22 / 2001

Director: Jonathan Morgan

Cast: Sydnee Steele, Julia Ann, Devinn Lane, Kylie Ireland, Nikita Denise, Kristal Summers, Brad Armstrong, Randy Spears, Joel Lawrence, Steve Hatcher, and Julian in sexual roles and Mike Horner in a non-sex role

Initial Expectations: Wicked makes some of the best couples features out there, and in my opinion, Jonathan Morgan is one of the best directors currently making adult films today. I can’t help but go into his features with high expectations, especially with this cast.

Initial Reaction: As usual, it’s a very well made couples feature that doesn’t take too much thought.

Who Should Watch It : Anybody who doesn’t want more extreme sex and who wants a little bit of plot with their porn.

Who Should Avoid It: Anybody who just wants balls to the walls, no holds barred sex

Audio /Video Quality: The technical aspects are great. The audio is very well balanced and I don’t think I heard a single background noise. The video is much the same. Of course it’s limited by the VHS format, but it’d be hard to improve it anywhere in the feature. There’s nice lighting and few shadows, and the colors all appear natural.

Music: The music varies from scene to scene, with some of it very soft and romantic, some playful, and some hard and driving. The balance also ranges a bit, but normally rests very quietly in the background to the point that sometimes you can’t hear it unless you deliberately listen for it.

Menus: The menus look great. The chapter menu is pretty standard, letting you choose a scene based on a small clip and a scene number, but everything else looks as good or better than most mainstream menus.

The Feature: At a little twenty four hour café just across the railroad tracks, most everybody is at a personal crossroads. Sydnee Steele is having an affair with Randy Spears, her husband’s partner. Joel Lawrence is a screenwriter who thinks he has one night to come up with a big screen treatment for his idea about a hit man having a mid-life crises with the help of his estranged wife, Kylie Ireland. Brad Armstrong just happens to be a hit man who is at a moment of crisis when Mike Horner, a writer with a horrible case of writers block, hires him to kill his wife so he can feel something he can write about again. Devinn Lane and her lover, Nikita Denise, discuss their relationship, since Devinn isn’t really sure if she’s heading in the right direction. Finally, there’s Krystal Summers and Steve Hatcher, who are planning to kidnap a major Hollywood mover and shaker so they can finally come into some money. They don’t know each other, yet all their lives are somehow interconnected.

Sydnee Steele starts things out right away with Randy Spears in the rare and coveted porn location of a bed. Almost right away it’s clear that any raincoater who popped this tape in grabbed the wrong box. Randy lovingly works Sydnee’s body over with his tongue and fingers before she strokes a condom onto him. The sex continues in much the same fashion. It’s all loving and natural, and perhaps one of the most naturally romantic scenes I’ve watched in a long time. There’s plenty of kissing as well as a nice slow pace. Randy and Sydnee move from the classic missionary position to the cowgirl position so that Sydnee can control things a little with such ease that it seems like they’ve been lovers for years. Sydnee ends things sucking Randy’s rod and finishes it with a realistic oral acceptance of Randy’s load rather than letting it slop all over her face. It’s really the perfect ending for this scene, and should get many a couple in the mood.

Next up, Brad Armstrong becomes the envy of many a red blooded man by getting a little make-up sex with Julia Ann. As usual with Brad, the sex is a bit more intense here, and as usual with Julia, she rolls with it and gets into it every bit as well as she does with slower, romantic couples scenes. Surprisingly, there’s no blow job to start off this scene either, although Brad does a great job of warming Julia up as he works her up to four fingers. They work through most of the standard positions, and Julia even gets her sphincter spread a little with Brad’s finger as he fucks her from behind. Julia finishes Brad off with a blowjob leading to an okay pop on her face. It’s a very hot scene that has just as great of chemistry as the previous scene. The most amazing thing, and I know this isn’t what I should have noticed in the scene, was Brad maintaining his Irish accent throughout his boning Julia. I’m sure she’d reduce me to a quivering pile of jelly in no time at all, but Brad’s enough of a professional that he even maintains character throughout the sex.

Devinn Lane and Nikita Denise, two women who I consider at the top of the game right now, hook up for a light B&D scene next. Nikita’s heavily into the lifestyle, and wants Devinn to be a good dominatrix, but Devinn isn’t sure if she wants to, or even if she’s a lesbian despite the fact that she loves to eat pussy. There’s a little humor early in the scene that should make this easier on many couples who would normally be leery of this kind of scene, as Nikita’s done up in full fetishwear. Devinn, on the other hand, looks a little bookish as she’s done partially in fetishwear but still has on white tennis shoes and socks, wire rimmed glasses, and her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She looks extremely cute, but shows some obvious uncomfortableness with the lifestyle Nikita is trying to draw her into. Sadly, Devinn’s character’s insecurities bring down the heat quite a bit. It’s a very toy-heavy scene, with a lot of double dildo action, which unfortunately gets sucked quite a bit, and a large butt plug that Devinn works Nikita’s ass over with. There’s also a fair amount of spanking and some nice rimming, but the scene never feels quite comfortable with itself. This seems partially intentional, which gives me mixed reactions about the overall scene. Yes, it’s well acted and well executed, but the heat never gets up there high enough to really get my blood pumping in the areas it should, which is a true first for me in a Devinn Lane scene.

Joel Lawrence and Kylie Ireland go the romantic route outside in the next scene, with Kylie becoming the first lady in the movie to open a scene with a blowjob. Surprisingly, due to the nasty girl streak Kylie’s been on lately, it’s a very slow and sensuous blowjob which Joel follows up with some extremely romantic licking. They move inside to fuck, since they apparently don’t want to give the neighbors too much of a show, where Joel spears Kylie’s snatch in the normally required reverse cowgirl and a little doggie style before Kylie sucks Joel’s joy juice out and onto her face. The entire scene has a very loving feel, and has a lot of talking and kissing. It’s another very hot scene, that shows that heat and romance don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Kristal Summers, who looks like a pink haired Barbie doll that somebody fished out of a garbage can, right down to not having any hair down under, gives Steve Hatcher, who looks almost as bad, some loving next in an abandoned building. Despite my dislike for both of their appearances here, it really does fit well with the overall idea for them and their roles. Although it fits well for the roles, I couldn’t quite get past their looks to completely enjoy the scene. They both put some decent energy into the scene, and Kristal even goes all the way to giving Steve a trip down the Hershey Highway as well as taking him on her face at the end. Surprisingly, Steve doesn’t give her bald beaver any tongue action, but with how clean both of them looked, I think that fit fairly well into the plot too. I found this scene very warm at best, but I’m sure others will probably enjoy it a lot more than I did.

Finally, Sydnee Steele hooks up with Julian, one of the former leading men in porn who took a little time off and now appears to be back. It’s a pretty standard scene that seemed to lack a little in the chemistry department, especially after some of the earlier scenes. It’s a pretty standard and full couples scene, with both Sydnee and Julian getting a little oral action before working through most of the common positions. Once again, Sydnee works the condom into the scene before fucking, this time putting it on with her mouth and hands. Although I’m not thrilled about seeing condoms in every scene, they do fit in well here and it’s much nicer to see them worked into the scene rather than just magically appearing in the scene. Sydnee finishes things off taking an impressive facial from Julian, which seems to be the high point of the scene. It’s a good scene, but it just seemed a little by the book at times. I’ve seen a lot worse endings for a feature, but this one just seemed to miss by a cunt hair compared to some of the other scenes.

If you’re looking for something special to watch with that special someone, Turning Point is well worth considering. Jonathan Morgan does a great job behind the camera and keeps things moving throughout the entire feature. He mixes the angles up nicely, and gets fairly close and keeps the camera moving to let you clearly see almost everything you’d want to. There’s a little bit of plot, but it’s extremely well done. It nicely frames the sex scenes and lets the cast show off their acting chops a little bit. Brad Armstrong really stands out here above and beyond the rest of the cast. He maintains a cool exterior that’s been cracked a little by a client, while also holding a decent Irish brogue through the entire feature. I know I’m paying attention to the wrong thing here, but Brad really outdid himself here. Luckily he does just as good in the sack with Julia Ann. The rest of the cast also does a decent job, although Devinn Lane and Nikita Denise’s scene disappointed me a little by letting the plot interfere just a little much in their scene. I was also a little put off by Kristal Summers in her scene, although it’s more of a stylistic disagreement than anything she did in her scene. The other scenes excel in chemistry. They’re all very romantic, and have heat as well as chemistry. Although I had a few minor problems with the feature, I still think Turning Point is an extremely impressive couples film that gives everybody involved a nice chance to show their talents.

Extras: Wicked really went all out here on extras. Audio bios are included for Sydnee Steele, Devinn Lane, Julia Ann, Nikita Denise, Kristal Summers, Kylie Ireland, Brad Armstrong, Joel Lawrence, and Jonathan Morgan. Not surprisingly, the bios are fit to the overall menu feel and include some nice personal information, a few photos, and a link to the star’s scene. Trailers are included for Hell on Heels, Crazed, Vengeance, and Working Girl. There’s also promotional materials, the Wicked Casino, wicked web links, a listing of Wicked’s award winning and nominated features, a company profile, and a commercial for the Free Speech Coalition.

Several photo galleries are also included. Both the movie production gallery and the behind the scenes gallery last about three and a half minutes with about eight seconds per nice looking snapshot or full screen photo. Star galleries are also included for Sydnee Steele, Devinn Lane, Julia Ann, Nikita Denise, Kristal Summers, and Kylie Ireland, each of which lasts about two and a half minutes with photos from this feature only. Finally, there’s the Girls of Turning Point featurette, which lasts seven minutes and shows all of the girls except Kristal Summers posing for photos to some fuck music. It’s a nice featurette that acts like a combination between a music video and a photo gallery.

Jonathan Morgan teams up with Sydnee Steele and Steve Hatcher to give an audio commentary for the feature. They talk about pretty much every aspect of the feature, including the roles, the sex, what was happening behind the scenes, and plenty of other stuff. Jonathan talks quite a bit about how he tries to bring a little reality into the feature and how skilled his cast and crew were, and just does a great job of leading things in general. There’s rarely a dead spot throughout the entire commentary, and it moves around enough that it’s well worth listening to.

There’s also several interviews. Jonathan Morgan’s interview lasts about seven minutes, and covers much of Jonathan’s past in the industry and his relationship with Wicked. He also talks about the pros and cons between directing and performing, and some of his favorite people to work with. Sydnee Steele talks about feature dancing in her three minute interview, and Kylie Ireland talks about her dildos for her two minute interview. As usual, both girls show off some great personality. All of the interviews are interesting to watch, and add nicely to the overall DVD.

An alternate ending for the feature is also included, which lasts about a minute and a quarter. It’s a little different and changes things a little, but not so much that it completely changes everything. It’s a great idea for an extra, and I think Wicked definitely made the right choice for the movie with the main ending.

All Access: The Making of Turning Point lasts about twenty one minutes, and features camerawork by Slammy and DVD Guru David Crawford. As usual, the entire cast is nicely identified as they take the screen. Unlike some of the other behind the scenes features, this one mostly concentrates on the actual filming of the movie. There’s a lot of focus on the Jonathan working with the talent for what he wants and showing the camera capturing the talent doing what they do best. There’s very little shown of the other going ons around the set, which is one of the things I look for most. It’s a good featurette for those interested in the making of the actual movie, but it just isn’t as fun as some of Wicked’s other behind the scenes featurettes since it lacks a lot of the other fun around the set.

Finally, there’s also a seven minute blooper and gag reel. There’s some fun with the locations, as well as with the cast. As usual, it’s fun to watch, but it isn’t quite up to the normal level of humor as on some of Jonathan’s comedies.

Themes: Straight, spanking, rimming (male > female and female > female), anal, lesbian, fetishwear, toys, and B&D

Raincoat Factor: High

Overall: Currently, most Wicked DVDs can be found online for between $20 and $27 with most stores offering them for around $25. This one is well worth the extra money. The movie is very well done and has a great transfer, while the DVD has plenty of well done extras.

Note to Wicked: As usual, great job! It’s great to see you giving the customer such great value for the extra couple bucks it costs for your DVDs.

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me .

Other reviews by Astroknight