"Award-winning" - an epithet that's the kiss of death in Adult Cinema, due to who actually gives out the awards. That's the fate of this anti- entertainment by Paul Thomas and his usually trustworthy writer Raven Touchstone at their most pretentious.
It's a completely negative look at a scoundrel who is unaware of his shortcomings (current POTUS, anyone?) played in dour, "please hate me" fashion by Randy Spears. The more Spears performances I see (I've watched at least 300 of his features to guesstimate) the less respect I have for his one-note ability to ruin many a feature. But in this case I doubt if hiring a talented actor like James Bonn or Mike Horner would have saved the day.
PT uses a complicated editing structure that baffled me for the most part, as many scenes seem like flashbacks but not necessarily, especially given that the central role of Johnny, a bar owner played by Spears, is not self-aware but more a Job-like complainer at any self-inflicted problems that come his way.
Similarly confusing is the casting, as working for Vivid means a Vivid contract girl is the hook for most projects, at least the ones not consisting of mere all-sex filler, so Sunrise Adams gets top billing for what would be a supporting role in a real movie. PT comments off the cuff in the BTS short subject about Adams' beauty, but her acting is poor.
Touchstone's screenplay presents a red herring of Sunrise perhaps to seek revenge after being fired early on from her barmaid job by Randy. She does pop up later, only to be dissed by him in a stupid scene that redundantly underscores what a creep he is.
Her subplot has her saddled with a con man for a husband, a ne'er-do-well played by Rafe who pretends to be paralyzed in a wheelchair to get money as a pan handler. This particular story line goes nowhere.
Main theme is Johnny's sex addiction, convenient for the episodic/vignette nature of porn but poorly developed. He has a confidante named Marsha, portrayed vividly by Dru Berrymore in the show's best performance, and frequents streetwalkers constantly, unable to control his urges. This results ridiculously in his comeuppance by wronging one of the whores, who turns out to be a vindictive cop presumably working undercover.
It's distressing to watch this would-be (and very condescending) peek at the Lower Depths, L.A. division, and wasted in the shuffle are the beautiful Ava Vincent as Randy's neglected wife (also given only the most minimal sex action to perform) and a bevy of (like Dru) Euro superstars including Sophie Evans. I would have much rather watched her story than that of the principals, an imbalance PT didn't seem to notice during production, using the distinctive Sophie as mere window dressing.
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