Elektra Luxx (2010)
(On Cable TV, March 2012) Naive viewers may expect movies about porn stars to be at least interesting, but in a textbook example of false-titillation, Elektra Luxx is low in nudity and high in laugh-free art-house comedy. Viewers who stumble on this film without knowing that it’s a direct sequel to Women in Trouble may have a hard time figuring out the relationship between the various plot strands that make up the film, especially when at least one of them remains unconnected to the rest. Of course, excuses of sequelitis only go so far in making audience forgive a wildly inconsistent pace, dull dialogues, indifferent characters and lack of entertainment value. Carla Gugino may vamp it up as porn star Elektra Luxx, and be surrounded by an impressive supporting cast going from Joseph Gordon-Hewitt to Julianne Moore, but there just isn’t much to the film itself. Interest starts slipping away after half an hour, never to return. There are, to be fair, a few interesting strands here and there; the evolution of a woman “from porn star to functioning adult” is promising… but Elektra Luxx itself is too scattered to do justice to the premise. Bits and pieces of interest can’t make up for a largely indifferent film; there are better choices out there.