From XXX Files Feb. 2001
Veronica Hart has to be one of porn’s most celebrated mavericks. Like most Hollywood actors, she found a resting place not in her first career as an object of the camera’s fascination, but when she re-invented herself as the conductor behind the camera’s lens. Though she certainly hasn’t been the first adult actress to try on the director’s hat to discover that the hat fits, she began making videos whose straightforward attention to being films (in every sense of the word) made us porn critics sit up and take notice — plus they hiked notions of quality in porn up several notches.
Hart’s films are complete storytelling vehicles, have very high production values, and she casts the best actors in the field into roles they can actually sink their teeth into, rather than just “going through the motions.” And what’s more, they’re able to go further than Hollywood’s censor boards will allow mainstream films for grownups to go by offering explicit sex between the characters in mind-blowing, emotionally charged encounters. In the past few years, Veronica Hart has fascinated and aroused an ever-widening fan base with a variety of clever and provocative films — heart-achingly romantic, love story comedy, gripping mystery — and has begun a dynamic portfolio of film worthy of a young Billy Wilder.
Love’s Passion (1998) opened up the discussion for romantic porn movies while captivating us with an allegorical story-within-a-story plot line. In it, actress Juli Ashton is a romance novelist coping with the pain of a recent heartbreak, and weaves her pain into her latest work about a civil-war southern belle (also played by Ashton), who must cope with the possible loss of her man (achingly handsome Mickey G) to the casualty lists. The sex reflects authentic lust and emotional desperation between the characters, and features a realism unusual to mainstream porn — with touches such as the men ejaculating inside of, rather than all over, the women. Finally, a film giving our viewers several things they’re clamoring for. Commenting for this article, Veronica Hart said of making Love’s Passion,
“Love’s Passion is very romantic and melodramatic — just what I wanted. This was my reaction to a lot of the loveless and mean spirited videos I saw being made at the time. It’s relationship based. There’s love involved and the main character played by Juli Ashton doesn’t want casual sex even when she’s cast aside by the man she loves. It was wonderful to have the luxury of playing with the different time periods — Juli plays a romance novelist and we see the book she’s writing which parallels what she’s experiencing in her life. I love all the period costumes and locations. And the notion of true love. I’m such a romantic at heart.”
Romantic screwball comedies are a modern film archetype — and Hart’s Being With Juli Ashton proves that they can be sexually explicit and retain all the romance, humor, and genuine character interest that the genre requires. The notion of Being John Malkovich is turned on its head as an aspiring erotic filmmaker discovers a portal in his boss’ storeroom through which one ends up in the body of whomever is making love to Juli Ashton (who plays herself as a porn star beyond Hollywood celebrity). And Ashton is always having sex, yet through incidents related to lust and the human condition, our anti-hero ends up in unintentionally eye-opening (though incredibly hot) sexual situations. It’s fun, lighthearted, and the sex has the women calling all the shots. Especially noteworthy is the heat in a hot-tub three-way with Ashton, and the final encounter between the fumbling filmmaker and his wife (Chloe), where we see a man who won’t stop making love until his partner is satisfied. The hilarious bloopers are included at the end, and the DVD version really lets the viewer have some fun playing around with the sexual possibilities. Hart said,
“Being With Juli Ashton was another complicated but fun script! We shot it and edited it with the DVD in mind. There are two concurrent storylines — Juli Ashton’s experiences as an adult superstar and the experiences of Herb (Steve Hatcher), a struggling pornographer and Candy (Chloe), his wife. Their two worlds collide when he discovers a secret portal which jettisons him into the person who is “With Juli Ashton” ala Being John Malkovich. It’s obviously a treat for the audience to be there with the unlikely star — who wouldn’t want to be with Juli? It was fun role-switching — showing Chloe inside Lexington Steele and Steve Hatcher in Bridgette Kerkove.”
Topping the charts as the smartest, most engaging adult film to date is her hardboiled crime mystery, White Lightning. Overlapping stories about blackmail, lust, temptation, and redemption revolve around a pair of married police officers, with Ginger Lynn in a stellar performance as a repressed wife and strangely sexy Michael J. Cox posing as her cocksure — though easily manipulated — husband. This film packs in the tension, heat and genuine passion, and viewers are treated to gripping orgasms for women and men alike. What’s more, while we get to see great, (often very dirty) sex between characters we’re involved with, we’re treated to some highly skilled storytelling. When I asked her to comment, Hart stated,
“Let’s see — White Lightning was a complex movie to shoot and edit, inspired by the movie Go. Everybody’s story is the same time frame, but as we all know, everyone has a slightly different experience from the same event. What a pleasure working with such an incredibly talented cast. There are no better actors in the business than Ginger Lynn, Chloe, Mickey G., Michael J. Cox and Nina Hartley. The story starts light with a lovely bedroom scene with Ginger and Michael J. and progressively darkens to the rain and lightning scene — Kylie Ireland and Mickey G. and finally to the dirty talk in the dirty warehouse — Ginger, Sindee Coxx and Brad Armstrong with some blackmail and a possible murder thrown in for good measure!”
Veronica Hart is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, much to the delight of fans, the Good Vibrations’ staff, our customers — and adult film reviewers like myself. We’re looking forward to her latest film, Taken set for release in early March, and she’ll be shooting her next video with adult legend Marilyn Chambers in a couple of weeks, titled Edgeplay. You can also see some of her collaborative work with Michael Ninn (whose recent films she’s produced) on Playboy’s animated series, Dark Justice. If you’d like to see this maverick in the flesh, catch her in a guest star spot on a new HBO series airing in March called Six Feet Under, created by Alan Ball (who wrote and directed American Beauty). Veronica: “He was amazing as was being directed by Kathy Bates. What a genuine, warm and wonderful woman. Also, Ginger and I had a little guest spot on the mid-season replacement pilot for an NBC show called This Life. And that’s about it!”
More excellent Hart titles include:
Still Insatiable With tongue firmly in cheek, the legendary Marilyn Chambers returns to adult after ten years to play a female senator whose campaign platform is crusading against the evils of pornography. What she doesn’t expect is that her research will turn her on, and her ethics take a back seat to her libido in a well-acted film with great dialogue and genuine sex.
Taken Ginger Lynn delivers a performance that goes far beyond many of her Hollywood counterparts in this controversial story about a woman who is abducted by a handsome stranger—and is sexually and emotionally seduced by him. Full, believable characters, suspense and drama, romance and passionate lovemaking, exciting sexual experimentation, and a surprise twist at the end are all part of this fantastic film.
Read more — I have a full bio on Veronica Hart and reviews of many of her films in my book, The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos — and she loves the book, exclaiming to me, “your book kicks ass!” This is a guide for smart and adventurous women, couples and men who like their movies, and like their sex. People in increasing numbers seek well-made adult fare, but come up dry — and when nearly a thousand adult titles released every month, it’s tough to know where to start, let alone how to navigate the complex world of adult videos. Do women like porn? You bet — and I do too, and I bring you the book that represents the views of not the porn industry, but the porn consumer.
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