Wife Swappers

Vivid Entertainment

Genre: Feature

Director: Chuck Lords (Paul Thomas)

Cast: Monique Alexander, Penny Flame, Wendy Divine, Mia Smiles, Lisa Lee, Eric Masterson, Marco Duato, Chris Cannon, Trent Tesoro

Length: 89 minutes

Date of Production: 3/2/2005

Extra's: My favorite extra was the 27.5 minute Behind the Scenes feature by Victoria Woodhill and Ralph Parfait. While it spent a lot of time with Monique Alexander (her being the focal point and contract performer), the others got a chance to shine as well with interviews and sex footage included in the form of masturbation action. There were also five bonus scenes from other releases, three of which had Monique Alexander in them, some trailers, a couple of photogalleries, a short Monique Alexander biography, a positions room, a double sided DVD cover, and some forced spam at the beginning of the DVD.

Condoms: Yes

Audio/Video Quality: Wife Swappers was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame it was shot in by director Paul Thomas for Vivid Entertainment. There were some minor issues with lighting (it looked like a third tier company made it at times with no fill or back lighting) but the picture tended to look better than most Vivid features have of late due to lower amounts of grain and video noise. The basic nature of the scenes helped make it easier to shoot but the budget appeared to be scaled down to meet the lowered expectations so it was slightly a draw in many ways (visually speaking). The colors were accurate though and aside from some other minor issues, I have to admit it was a pleasant change. The stereo audio was basic with the vocals easily heard, if a tad bit hollow, and a surprisingly nice change from the usual droning music Paul likes to toss in on so many of his other movies.

Body of Review: If there was ever a director that defined a company's overall attitude towards porn, it would be veteran director Paul Thomas of Vivid. Starting off in porn as a performer with a somewhat perverted sense of humor, he learned the ropes of directing early on and made the transition to director after a somewhat bumpy ride as video surpassed film as the medium of choice back in the 1980's. Mr. Thomas has had some limited success directing mainstream films (primarily Boogie Nights) but he will forever be associated with the couples oriented movies he directs for Vivid on almost incredibly limited budgets in virtually no time at all (I hesitate to use the term "assembly line porn" as many of his critics charge but they often have a point). In any case, Paul makes a lot of movies for the company with some being far more resource intensive than others. When he makes a low budget quickie though, he often directs under one of his aliases and this was the case with his latest flick Wife Swappers. The movie was almost a documentary about several real life porn couples having sex with other performers as part of their sex life and while that sounds boring, some of the sex was actually pretty well done by the cast. If this interests you, read the following breakdown of the scenes by cast and actions, noting that condoms were used but weren't intrusive:

Scene One: Monique Alexander, Penny Flame, Wendy Divine, Mia Smiles, Lisa Lee, Eric Masterson, Marco Duato, and Chris Cannon, had the initial scene, an orgy scene at that, after the various real life couples spoke about their experiences with partner swapping (not exactly "wife" swapping but pretty close). The footage included the couples essentially pairing up with one another (Wendy and Marco; Eric and Mia; Monique and Penny; Lisa and Chris) and doing some minor tease footage before the usual oral and straight screwing. What made it far more interesting to me was that they all seemed to be personal friends so the chemistry they had with one another was higher than usual. It was also good to see Wendy (billed as Maya) here since she seems to have cut back on making movies in recent years. The sex was also exclusively handled by the first two listed couples though (Lisa & Chris; Mia and Eric) as the others went to other rooms described following this. Lisa did anal this time but he did most of the work so fans may not be as enthusiastic as they could be.

Scene Two: Monique Alexander and Penny Flame, having left the living room (along with Wendy and Marco), showed their special bond on a bed next. While the lighting was weaker than average (too many shadows and slightly too much grain) and the focus sometimes seemed elusive, it looked better than the vast majority of work by Monique for Vivid (and there has been a lot of it lately). The gals did the usual licking and rubbing before employing a glass dildo. Some of the action seemed over the top, especially by Monique, but there was no denying the couple had fun together with some nice chemistry.

Scene Three: Wendy Divine, one of the more playful gals in the industry when she was actively making movies, showed that her virtual absence from porn had not reduced her sexual skills as she took on Marco Duato on the bed beside Monique and Penny. Marco looked even more like a leaner, younger Arnold Schwarzenegger than ever so I figured the action would be pretty good. The mechanical nature of the sex was bolstered by the energy displayed but these two never lived up to their potential here (which kind of sucked since I think they're both very talented). Oral and straight sex with a pop shot on her curvy, sweet ass, was all that took place here.

Scene Four: Monique Alexander, still looking pretty fresh, was up last in a bed with wimpy Trent Tesoro (he really needs to hit the gym and bulk up a little bit). She rambled on about a sexual experience of her past and he pretended to listen as he eyed her body. They did the oral with straight action and aside from some shadows due to no fill lighting, she looked better here than before (and much better than in her other releases for Vivid). She was energetic and actively participated in the sex, taking a facial at the end. With a little more practice with guys, she has the potential to really shine in porn so I can see why Vivid would sign her to an exclusive contract.

Summary: Wife Swappers didn't have enough fuck for the buck to rate more than a Rent It from me but fans of the cast will probably find their performances decent enough to at least consider it as a purchase. The sex was mostly couples friendly and didn't delve into the circus act aspects so many other releases on the shelves these days feels the need to do so that might make a difference for some of you. The bonus scenes were pretty decent but since they aren't unique to this release, I can't honestly give them full credit as others feel obligated to do. The energy and chemistry of the cast varied more than a little bit too so aside from some improved technical values, Wife Swappers will be an acquired taste for many of you that should be rented first.