Love Letters (2005)

LOVE LETTERS showcases the talents of Savanna Samson, one of the more adept porno actresses of recent years. One of my favorite XXX directors Red Ezra, seems to have been coasting with this one.

Ezra points out in his behind-the-scenes extra that this was his first feature for the Vivid label; he ended up directing 3 videos in all for them, before inexplicably being demoted to lighting crew member in recent years. I don't know why he was seemingly booted out of whatever porn's equivalent is to the DGA.

Premise for several lengthy sex vignettes is overworked businesswoman Savanna forced to visit her Mini Storage facility, which is about to move, if she wants to keep her belongings from being unceremoniously dumped.

She finds old letters among the boxes in there, and the film consists of sexual memories they bring back.

Ezra tries to make an emotional connection here, as the letters recall significant moments of change in her life, but the overall impact is simply sex, since there is little advancing storyline to balance the nearly two hours of humping. He achieved a much better balance between narrative and XXX content in early videos like SWEETWATER and LOVE MACHINE.

The only departure from the template is a segment of Mini Storage manager Johnny (Alex Sanders), visited on his lunch hour by scrumptious girl friend Trinity, who insists on a nooner. She is such a sexy and different (not the usual porn starlet looks) performer that this vignette proved to be my favorite in the picture. Her resemblance to Jennifer Connelly (circa CAREER OPPORTUNITIES) didn't hurt.

Elsewhere, Savanna struts her stuff, whether it be boy-girl or a sapphic tryst, with aplomb. As usual with Vivid product, the stress on condoms pretty well destroys the fantasy, but I know it is meant to be in a good cause.

A similar cast appears in Ezra's DRIVE, which is on my screening queue, and which hopefully will have more dramatic meat on its bones than LOVE LETTERS.