Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Directed by: Robert Nathan
Starring: Don McManus, Betsy Rue, Jay Paulson
Written by: Lukas Kendall, Robert Nathan

Synopsis: Lucky Bastard is a “found footage” thriller about a porn website that invites fans to have sex with porn stars.

Well to start things out, this sure was one of the more puzzling reviews I have ever had to write. Lucky Bastard is exactly what you think it might be, and also exactly what you might not expect. It’s a film within a film. A porn company that tries to get clever by selecting random guys offline to star in their films. A porn that attempts to be a reality TV show?

Within the first few minutes of the film you will get an idea where this whole thing is headed. A bit of a heads up to all of you waiting to see this on your laptop at work or school…don’t do it! Unless you wanna get fired or expelled. Before you get a chance to blink, you will hear some NC-17 language, followed by some graphic XXX action. To some this is a reason to buy the film immediately, to others it might be a cause for concern. The explicit sex aside, there is an actual storyline to this movie…it’s not a porn, even though it feels like one at some points.

Now, onto what makes this movie so perplexing to me.  After the first 15 minutes you are clearly convinced you are watching a porn. After the 30 minute mark you are starting to doubt that the movie is a porn. Half-way into the movie, you are starting to figure out that this is a thriller in a making, and start forgetting that 15 minutes earlier you thought this was a porn. Yes, I know I’ m also confused by what I just wrote, imagine what this movie was doing to me? So, what ended up turning around my point of view on the film midway through? It was actually one individual in the film. Jay Paulson who plays Dave, the lucky bastard who wins the competition (if that’s what you want to call it?) to star in a XXX movie with the main porn star Ashley Saint who is played by Betsy Rue. The Dave character manages to catch your attention. Hes’ as weird and creepy looking as you could find, it screams trouble. A pale, red-haired, nervous wreck, you just know this guy is trouble. It’s like picking up a hitchhiker in the New Mexico desert..don’t do it!

Betsy Rue sure looks like someone I was affiliated with, though the pissed off look would have me running

The film has a Blair Witch feel to it. It seems like that was the intended attempt, to which it succeeds. Certain scenes are shot from the camera operators point of view, adding to the “reality porn” look. The film looks like it could have been shot by a few film students, however, this surprisingly works. If it were to have a more theatrical feel instead of a made-at-home look of it, then the movie would look too fake. The cheaper it looks the more like an actual porn/found footage it becomes. The acting is poorly-good. What I mean by that is that it’s actually surprisingly well done. Don McManus really sells you as a sleazy porn director, you can’t do McBeth trying to impersonate one of those guys. Betsy Rue plays the porn star Ashley Saint. She clearly has many moments of overacting which in turn turns out to be a splendid job in portrayal of a bad porn “actress”. The performances by Rue and McManus are purposely bad, so in reality they did a really solid job. Yes, I know it’s confusingly twisted. Jay Paulson, does a fine work portraying the creep. He looks, talks, and acts like a creep. That’s all that needs to be done. As far as the rest of the supporting performances, well they seemed fairly bad and amateur. Maybe they were just messing with my head once again and the acting was mimicked perfectly? I’ll lean towards the bad acting.

Acting and presentation aside, still the most important aspect of any movie is the actual story. Make no mistake, this film does contain a storyline and not just random sex scenes. The storyline does have a purpose, thought it has some noticeable flaws in it. As a viewer, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking why the heck do they keep stringing along this creep who is causing them all this chaos? Shouldn’t he have zero room for error by being given this “opportunity”?  The director keeps fighting for this creepy knucklehead while his prized porn star wants nothing to do with the him. Once again, makes you think of why would this producer/director have such an attachment to some random contestant, while his money maker is about to leave him? It’s a highly noticeable flaw in the script that you can’t hide from the viewer.

A porn director getting his talent riled up? Say it ain’t so

My final thoughts on the film are definitely split. When watching a film like this you can’t possibly compare it to Argo or even your regular summer popcorn flick. If you hold it up against those films, then Lucky Bastard doesn’t even get a grade. What I judge it on is the real genre of this film. It’s a lower budget, Redbox kinda film and for that criteria it actually gets the job done. The movie accomplishes what it sets out to provide. You get a lot of T & A (if you are unaware of that term, go Google it), get a few decent laughs, and a manageable story arc for a film of this nature. The casting was pretty solid. The characters resemble their apparent real life counterparts. McManus does look like a typical porn director would look like. Rue is fairly hot, but not setting anyone afire, which is how most porn stars look like. This is definitely a guy’s film. Young adult to middle aged guys would probably get a kick out of this movie. Women, not likely. As much as this movie perplexed me during it’s viewing, I am judging it for what it is. The less thought put into it, more you can appreciate it for what it is.

A booblicious  5 out of 10

Porn, porn, and something else…enjoy the visuals!