Bitter Sweet, from Smash Pictures

★★★☆☆

Time: 1:55, Director: Jim Powers, Date: 2013

Screenshots: On our Tumblr

On the web: IAFD

Cast: Riley Reid (22yo), Richie Black (23yo), Emily Austin (24yo), Tyler Nixon (26yo), Alyssa Branch (20yo), Logan Pierce (22yo), Melody Jordan (22yo), Kevin Crows, Zoey Monroe (21yo), and Xander Corvus (25yo)

Source: DVD

Pleasure ✓, Passion ♀-, Balance ✓

Review

Zoey works for a modeling agency, and she is put in charge of making sure one of their top models, Xander, gets to his shoots. He isn't entirely happy with the idea, but she has a job to do, and she does it. Unsurprisingly, it leads to their falling in love.

There really isn't that much to the story. Far too much time is spent documenting the various photo shoots, which aren't that interesting, and they just don't add very much. If you exclude those, then probably no more than ten minutes are spent on the story. Indeed, there is almost no time spent on the story at all before the last two sex scenes, so that the final three scenes are almost back to back to back.

The acting is a bit inconsistent. Kevin Crows and Melody Jordan are probably the worst offenders, but we weren't terribly impressed by Zoey Monroe, either. On the other hand, Tyler Nixon was very good, in a limited role, and Xander Corvus and Logan Pierce were terrific—as they usually are.

The sex scenes are inconsistent, too. There is really only one very good scene here, the third one, with Alyssa Branch and Logan Pierce. The first and last aren't bad, but the second and fourth left us very cold.

The music during the sex scenes is also very repetitive, and by the end we found it annoying.

The movie was nominated for Best Romance Movie at the 2014 AVN Awards, and for Feature Movie of the Year at the XBiz Awards, where Zoey Monroe was also nominated for Best Actress.

Scene 1: Riley Reid and Richie Black (♀♂)

★★★½☆

Time: 16:00

Cumshot: Pussy

Pleasure ✓, Passion ♀, Balance ✓

Riley is showering, and Richie walks in with her and tries to get her not to go so soon. He succeeds.

There is good chemistry between them, and the sex feels fairly natural. She does seem to have a reasonably good time, and to become fairly aroused. Once they start fucking, however, it starts to feel a bit monotonous. This is largely because the camera becomes very static, and it just isn't that interesting, visually, to watch two people do the same thing over and over, even if the same thing they are doing is fucking.

The photography does have its moments, though. We do see his face while she is sucking him, and the camera moves nicely between his eating her and her facial reaction. But the camera is mostly behind her when she is on top of him, and he is out of frame when she is on her back.

Scene 2: Emily Austin and Tyler Nixon (♀♂)

★★★☆☆

Time: 17:30

Cumshot: Internal

Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓

Tyler is doing a milk-related photo shoot, and Emily is the makeup artist on the set. He asks her out to dinner, which she resists, since she's not supposed to date the models, but he begs her, and she gives in. They have sex at his apartment afterwards.

They are very convincing in their roles. It's sweet how he offers to call her a taxi, and she says she was hoping they could make out some more. Indeed, she's the main initiator here.

Unfortunately, though, while the sex does not feel planned, it does not feel very natural, either. We'd expect more passion, given the story, than we get here. As in the first scene, the camera is too static when they are fucking, and that makes it monotonous. And she never seems very aroused until they are spooning.

The photography is below average for these movies. There are some nice shots, but we do not see much of him when she is sucking him, and there is something close to a POV shot for a while when she is sucking him.

Scene 3: Alyssa Branch and Logan Pierce (♀♂)

★★★★☆

Time: 19:30

Female Orgasm: Maybe, Cumshot: Pussy

Pleasure ✓, Passion ♀, Balance ✓

Alyssa is a model that Logan is shooting, and with whom he seems to be friendly. They share some wine afterwards, and she says she is feeling lonely, so she asks if she can stay with him. Shockingly, they have sex.

There is decent chemistry between them, and the sex is fairly natural. She seems to enjoy herself a fair bit, too. But, again, many of the sequences feel as if they go on a bit long. This is largely due to the same problem: a static camera. When she is on top of him, for example, the camera stays in the same place, behind her, for a long time. It just isn't an interesting shot.

There are some highlights to the photography, though. There are some nice, wider shots at the beginning, and again when they start fucking with her on her back.

Scene 4: Melody Jordan and Kevin Crows (♀♂)

★★★☆☆

Time: 18:30

Cumshot: Stomach

Pleasure ✓, Passion ✓, Balance ✓

Melody has been Kevin's assistant for some time, and she has apparently had a thing for him. She asks him why he hasn't asked her out, so they have sex instead.

The story would suggest that the sex should be very passionate, and it is somewhat passionate, but not that passionate. There is decent chemistry between them, though, and the sex doesn't feel planned, but it does feel a bit routine. She does at least seem to have a good time, though she never seems all that aroused.

The photography is about average for these movies. There are some nice shots, but she is too much the focus, and there are too many genital closeups. We have the same problem with static shots, too.

Scene 5: Zoey Monroe and Xander Corvus (♀♂)

★★★½☆

Time: 18:30

Cumshot: Stomach

Pleasure ✓, Passion ♀, Balance ✓

Xander and Zoey share some wine at his apartment after a photo shoot. He flirts with her, saying he hadn't met the right woman, until then. So they have sex.

There does seem to be some real chemistry between them, and she seems to enjoy herself, too. As with the other scenes, however, the very static camera while they are fucking makes it feel monotonous, and the repetitive, overdone music is too loud here, sometimes threatening to drown out her sounds.

The camera work is about average for these movies. We really do not like POV shots, since the POV is always male. And the beginning of the sequence when she is sucking him is shot that way. But then the next bit is shot from behind his head, then from beside them, which is much more interesting.