Sunset Stripped

Some of adult films most notable veterans team up to prove that their younger counterparts have nothing on them when it comes to great sex in Veronica Hart's Sunset Stripped, starring Ginger Lynn in what very well may be her best performance to date.

The last time I saw Ginger was in VCA's Taken, a movie which I personally felt her talent in a less than captivating story. This time, however, director Veronica Hart latches on to one of the great movies of all time (Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd.) and adapts it for adult film.

Ginger takes on the Joe Gillis role, playing a young writer named Katherine Connors who finds herself struggling to write her next book and pay her bills. She's also smitten by her literary agent (played by Randy Spears), but finds out that he is already engaged (to Ashlyn Gere).

Things hit rock bottom for Ginger when Tyce Bune shows up as a repo man looking to take back her car due to late payments. Ginger asks Tyce if there is anything she can do to make him reconsider, and we immediately jump to a scene with Ginger dressed in a red cheerleader outfit servicing Tyce in her convertible. Tyce gets his pound of flesh from Ginger, banging her in the cowgirl and doggy position before cumming on her ass - and then promptly ditches her on the side of the road, driving off in her car.

Fortunately for Ginger, Tyce has left her in an affluent neighborhood, and she stumbles up to a mansion owned by Jamie Gillis who plays Rocklyn Davis, a character not all that different than himself - a former adult star looking to get back into the business. Jamie is taken by Ginger and offers to let her write his life story if she agrees to stay at the house to work on the book.

One of the neat things about the Sunset Stripped DVD is that the movie features two "flashback" sequences, which are supposed to be scenes from Jamie's earlier work as an adult actor. The DVD enables viewers to watch these scenes in two different ways...the original cut of the film has Mickey G. (perfect casting, by the way) playing a younger Gillis in two scenes - the first a threesome with Nikita Denise and Sondra Hall, and the second with Sharon Kane. But watching the alternate cut of the movie will actually reinsert two classic scenes featuring Jamie himself into this part of the film (the two scenes are also available as separate bonus scenes on the DVD).

Ginger decides that the only way she might have a chance with Randy is to seduce his fiancée, Ashlyn. So Ginger meets with her to discuss the book she is supposed to be working on (the one she is supposed to be writing at the beginning of the film, not the one she is working on for Gillis) and they talk about an erotic scene that borders on (Remember, they are only talking about it!). Ashlyn gets turned on, but before she can make out with Ginger, Randy enters the room - and so Ginger exits, leaving a very turned-on Ashlyn to have her way with Randy.

Meanwhile, an equally turned-on Ginger returns to Jamie's house and it isn't long before she's stripped down and masturbating on the bed. Jamie's maid, who is played by Sharon Kane, finds Ginger getting herself off and decides to take advantage of the situation by Ginger to service her needs. Sharon starts by making Ginger slowly strip in front of her, and then lick the black patent leather shoes of her maid's uniform. It isn't long before Ginger has her head between Sharon's legs, licking her out - a favor which Sharon returns during the second half of this hot scene.

But believe it or not, as hot as the lesbian segment between Ginger and Sharon is, it doesn't match up to the scene between Ashlyn and Ginger that comes a bit later in the movie. Returning to finish their discussion about her book, Ginger decides that the best way to relate to Ashlyn the passion she wants to write about is to physically show her...which leads to some wild sex between the two girls. After some oral and fingering of Miss Gere, Ginger assaults her with a thin purple vibe, and later, Ashlyn shoves a larger red butt plug (the kind that has a horse-hair whip on the other end - appropriate given the topic of conversation that led to all of this) into Ginger's ass. Just when you'd think things couldn't get better, the two women share a double-ended dildo...all while Ginger still has the butt plug up her behind!

Surprisingly, the weakest scene in Sunset Stripped is an orgy that takes place during a party that Jamie is throwing at his home. None of the actors having sex play a meaningful role in the film, but I suppose Veronica Hart threw the scene in to include some more "young " in her movie. The performers in the scene, just for the record, are Kelly Fire, Alex Foxe, Chennin Blanc, Cheyne Collins, JT Cannon, JD Coxxx and Hamilton Steele. The most notable part of this scene is the fact that Kelly (a cute redhead) gets a double facial from two of the guys - notable because these are the only facials that occur in the movie.

Ginger lures Randy over to the mansion and tells him Ashlyn has been cheating on him, although she does not reveal that she is the one who has been with her. While Ginger and Randy are making out, Sharon goes and picks up Ashlyn and brings her back to the mansion so she can see the two lovers making out. However, Ginger's plan to win Randy over backfires, and Randy storms out in anger.

Without giving away who does what (although fans of the original Sunset Blvd. will have no problems figuring it out), Ginger ends the movie the way it began - face down on the sidewalk (I guess a pool - as seen in the original film - presented too many potential problems) and dead. While not the most cheerful of endings, this is a nice adult homage to Wilder's original film, and easily one of the best adult releases of 2002.

The DVD doesn't skimp on the bonus material either, offering a nice behind the scenes look at the making of the film, a feature-length commentary track with Ginger and Veronica Hart, as well as an alternate ending to the movie and the ability to watch two different versions of the film, as mentioned above. Additional bonuses include three previews, cast biographies, a slide show, and a chapter selection that includes the ability to jump to your favorite portion of the sex scene. As with most VCA releases, the video and audio of this disc are top-notch.

Those looking for young starlets in action should probably steer clear of Sunset Stripped - but for those who long for the storytelling and hot performances that made up much of the late 80's and early 90's, Sunset Stripped is a great reunion film featuring some of the best actresses and actors this industry has ever seen...proving that they still have what it takes to get us up and get us off.

The Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard is the tree from which this adult classic was picked. Going into my first viewing, I doubted that a decent adult feature movie could result from sticking with SB's script. Thankfully, I was dead wrong.

Percy Rock, whom scripted Sunset Stripped is clearly a huge fan of the the Billy Wilder classic. It is amazing that such a well written script managed to keep the best quotes (i.e., "I'm still big. It's the movies that have gotten smaller,"), the overall plot outline and even add elements of great adult themes such as "scratch my back & I'll scratch yours" (i.e., the repo man letting Ginger keep her car if she dresses up in a cheerleading outfit and have sex with him). Truthfully, where else but porn is blackmail bundled up in a threat, sex and conclusion in less than ten minutes.

The three major roles have switched from the original. Putting Ginger Lynn in the William Holden Role as the broke writer who stumbles into the life of an aging, forgotten actor (Jamie Gillis - perfectly playing the Gloria Swanson role). The reason Swanson was so perfect for the role is because she was a once popular but now aging actress who the public has forgotten. Gillis is in the same boat.

I know that Veronica Hart produced and directed this movie, but I do not know who was responsible for casting. Whomever it was did a brilliant job. What makes the film believable and an honorable sex-sequel to the original is that the actors all fit perfectly to the story.

As the film progresses, we see Sharon Kane playing the servant role that was originally played by Erich von Stroheim and that capped his career. again, he was an aging actor and director, formerly of the silent era that simply fit brilliantly in the film. I still cannot believe that Hall of Famer Sharon Kane had a featured role in a movie made in 2002!

This review is running long so I won't go into the wonderful job done here by Ashlyn Gere, Nikita Denise, Sondra Hall, and mostly by the amazing Veronica Hart. Now that I've seen a great one, I'm dying for her to make some of my all-time favorite Hollywood films into adult features - Dr. Strangelove, Casablanca, 12 Angry Men, The African Queen, Fargo, The Naked , and Sullivan's Travels.

This is an outstanding movie, possibly my favorite adult feature of all-time. Everything is top-notch.

The DVD version is one of the best adult videos I have viewed. The story is pedestrian, but at least it is a story and makes sense. Ginger Lynn and Sharon Kane might be showing their age, but are hot and the don't fake orgasms. Ashlyn Gere was like your ideal of a wife/whore and Nikita Denise was great.