Page 52 - AVN Januray 2017

LIGHTS, CAMERA ...
Lefty
AAAA 1/2
SWEETHEART VIDEO/MILE
HIGH MEDIA
MileHighOnline.com
DIRECTOR: Dana Vespoli
CAST: Dana Vespoli, Bree Daniels,
Julia Ann, A.J. Applegate, Alexis
Texas, Dani Daniels; Jane Hamilton,
James Avalon (Non-Sex Roles),
Others. 121 Min.
CATEGORY: All-Girl, Drama
STORY TIME Reporter Bree Daniels tracks
down the mysterious Lefty.
a
AFTER AN OPENING where we see boxer
Linda “Lefty” Lumaban (Dana Vespoli)
doing her locker-room prep for a fight—
aides lacing and taping her gloves, a
good-luck kiss from Alexis Texas—as
voiceover sports commentators point
out that she’s undefeated and her
coach (James Avalon) is a former
middleweight champ who saw potential
in the young boxer when he was a
cop, Lefty struts to the ring, the crowd
cheering ... and we flashback to her
passionate bed bounce with Texas
before signing the contract for the fight.
Then, in the locker room, Lefty abruptly
calls off the fight after the coach’s
unexpected death from a heart attack—
an action explained in the next scene by
dialogue between editor Jane Hamilton
and reporter Bree Daniels. Bree wants
to find Lefty and ask her about a fighter
who just challenged her in retirement—
the same boxer Lefty was going to
fight when her coach died—and if Lefty
knows about her legacy as a leader for
women in combat sports.
Bree discusses Lefty while in bed with S.O. Julia Ann, who
notes that Lefty was an out lesbian and had “a public long-term
relationship with porn superstar Alexis Texas.” Bree finds and
interviews Texas about their relationship, and Texas flashes back
to a three-way she had with A.J. Applegate and Dani Daniels while
Lefty watched. After an argument with
Julia Ann about her writing “hobby,” Bree
has a chat with Lefty’s cut man/sparring
partner that leads her to find Lefty, who
isn’t happy to be found and resists the
idea of coming back: “I’m done. I don’t
miss that world. I don’t need it anymore.
I still have money left, and I don’t feel
like shit anymore. I’m not injured. I’m
done. I’m not going back.” But after Bree
leaves, Lefty puts on her shoes and starts
shadowboxing. Comes back to the gym.
Even consents to an interview, telling her
story: Teen prostitute, raped by her pimp,
gave up daughter for adoption, they’re
estranged now—and Bree tells Lefty she
was her inspiration during her parents’
abusive marriage ... and crosses the
objective-reporter line into the bedroom.
Invigorated and inspired, Lefty heads
back to the ring, facing the opponent who
called her out in a well-edited, stylized
minimalist scene that caps her comeback,
leading to a rewarding ending.
Vespoli’s challenging direction (from
her own script) builds its story out of bits and pieces with clips,
flashbacks, short cryptic scenes explained by subsequent bits of
dialogue, all within the classic framework of the reporter trying to
piece together a subject’s life from talking with people who knew
her—and in this case, the subject as well.
— Tod Hunter
REVIEWS | Editor’s Choices
AAAA 1/2
GIRLSWAY PRODUCTIONS/
GIRLFRIENDS FILMS
GirlfriendsFilms.net
DIRECTORS: Bree Mills, Stills by Alan
CAST: Cassidy Klein, April O’Neil,
Jelena Jensen, Kendra Lust, Shyla
Jennings, Penny Pax, Abigail Mac;
Bree Mills (Non-Sex Role). 150 Min.
CATEGORY: All-Girl, Parody
Little Red: A Lesbian Fairy Tale
GIRLSWAY CO-DIRECTORS Bree Mills and
Stills by Alan continue their streak
of creative, exciting all-girl narrative
features with something different:
a dark and erotic take on a Brothers
Grimm fairy tale.
g
In the starring role is Cassidy Klein, a
2016 Best New Starlet nominee whose
fierce performance as Red earned her
a nom for Best Actress in the 2017
awards. Parentless and alone, Red lives
like a wild child until a social worker
finds her and puts her in an orphanage.
And that’s when her troubles really
begin …
In the original story, Little Red Riding
Hood only had to watch out for one
predator: the Wolf. Here, as reimagined
by screenwriter Mills, dangers lurk in
every corner. Once Red escapes from
the clutches of Miss Flowers (Jelena Jensen),
the head of the orphanage, she finds herself
plagued not only by Wolf (Abigail Mac) but
also Foxy (Penny Pax) and her henchwoman
(director Mills in a non-sex role).
Fortunately for Red, she’s got allies in the
shapely forms of the social worker (April
O’Neil), a fellow inmate of the orphanage
(Shyla Jennings) and Mrs. Riding (Kendra Lust,
looking much too luscious to be anything but a
step-grandmother).
AVN Award-nominated
for Best Parody as well
as for direction and
screenplay, Little Red
also warrants praise for
the heartily enjoyable
turns by Mac and Pax
as forest predators.
The cinematography,
soundtrack and editing
are all up to the high
standards of Mills/Stills.
And the fact that the sex
is red-hot doesn’t hurt
one bit.
— Iris Blocks
IN THE HOOD Cassidy Klein in the title
role of Girlsway’s ‘Little Red.’
52 | AVN.com | 1.17