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I have always
kind of had a thing for Carla Gugino. Not
in a “I’m gonna stalk her until
the cops nab me” kinda way, but more
that I have an appreciation for her work
and thinks she’s rather lovely to
look at. She normally plays rather classy
roles and has that girl next door look,
so I wasn’t really sure how I’d
feel about her playing an ex-porn star.
In “Elektra Luxx”, that is
exactly what Gugino does. She stars as the
titular title character who, as a retired
porn star, is trying to make ends meet by
teaching sex education in a community college.
Her reasons for leaving ‘the biz’
are noble only in the fact that she was
impregnated by a now-deceased rock star
and she wants a better life for her child.
Interestingly enough, this somewhat serious
sounding premise is actually part of what
is rather an oddball comedy.
Director Sebastian Gutierrez has reassembled
much of his cast from his previous film,
“Women in Trouble” and delivers
a rather amusing comedy full of mistaken
identities, a tiny bit of kinkiness, and
just a smattering of T&A, but not as
much of the latter as you might expect.
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Don’t want to give away any spoilers, but
just to get you a little in the know… the
basic plot of the film follows Elektra through
this comedy of errors as she is asked one tiny
little favor by her stewardess friend (Marley
Shelton). All she has to do is seduce her friend’s
fiancé and in return she will turn over
some stolen lyrics that belonged to her dead rock
star boyfriend. But as you might expect, Elektra
goes after the wrong guy and ‘hilarity’
ensues.
While the plot seems simple, trust me when I
say it isn’t. Gutierrez surprisingly takes
his comedy in directions that even caught me off
guard. His dialogue is far more intelligent than
was expected, and the situations taken so far
left of center that it kept me off balance most
of the time. But it was a fun and quirky sense
of off balance, and one that I challenge you to
take.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention
Joseph Gordon –Levitt, whose character is
a porn blogger (and Elektra’s biggest fan).
His scenes are amongst the funniest, while occasionally
dabbling in poignancy. Levitt steals every scene
and I applaud what must have been a tremendously
fun role to play.
“Elektra Luxx” hits DVD today, touting
only a few deleted scenes in terms of extra features.
It is not meant for a mainstream audience, so
I wouldn’t suggest it to just anyone. But
I have to recommend grabbing a copy to those who
love extremely bizarre, off the wall comedies.
Directed by: Sebastian Gutierrez
Starring: Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle
Chriqui, Marley Shelton, Timothy Olyphant, Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, Malin Ackerman
Extras: Deleted Scenes
Studio: Sony
Release Date: 6/21/2011
MPAA Rating: R
http://www.sonypictures.com
We'll give Elektra Luxx a B-.
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