As the tagline suggests, the world of adult entertainment certainly could have taken 9 1/2 Weeks much further than mainstream cinema could have dared (the chopped up American cut of 9 1/2 Weeks says it all). Yet 9 1/2 Weeks became a cultural flashpoint for years to come, shining a light on Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger, and helping to launch a few decades of Zalman King pseudo-intellectual softcore projects.
I'm not sure anyone remembered 10 1/2 Weeks after they popped one out...or popped the tape out of their VCR. One of the reasons is because the film tries to be too many things - a splashing romance alongside dark psychological drama. And that doesn't work with the actor chosen to fill the Mickey Rourke role. Jerry Butler, superstar of the era, has a vague physical resemblance to Rourke. He's also boisterous, charismatic, cocky, and, most importantly for the genre, adds some heat and personality to avoid mechanical sex scenes. Unfortunately there is no real edge to his work, which is crucial. Rather than coming across as leading Barbara Dare (very credible in the Kim Basinger role, adding her own undercurrent of strength) to ruin, he just seems like an overgrown jerk. One has to wonder how John Leslie or Paul Thomas would have settled into this part if they had not been in their twilight years as performers.
Indeed, someone had the idea of putting Leslie in this film, in a throwaway role as Dare's boss, which feels like a prick tease. A scene with Keisha, needlessly intercut with a filler sex scene involving Joey Silvera and the very very thin Siobhan Hunter as underwear models (generous casting for Silvera...), is one of the movie's highlights due to Leslie's usual intensity and a genuinely hot connection, helped by little touches like Keisha leaving her bra on, her natural breasts pouring out the front for Leslie's and our satisfaction. Not only are these two scenes strangely placed into the film (they start the whole thing off before we proceed with many variations of Dare/Butler combos, throwing the pacing of the film way off), they also give us a bittersweet taste of what might have been.
Dare and Butler do have chemistry, both in bed and in the somewhat interchangeable street shots which are half-romance and half-Butler pawing at her, but some of the attempts to show his control border on laughable (maybe that is the intent, I have no idea), one including him wearing a head mirror and having her say her name over and over, and there's no believable progression showing Dare's decline. Most effective are probably the scenes of Dare nude, smoking, which qualify both as a fetish fulfillment for some viewers as well as a stylish touch the relationship itself doesn't really provide.
We, and they, hurtle toward a climax after Dare is left feeling demoralized due to Butler surprising her mid-sex with a threesome involving Nikki Knight. He claims she's his wife, then later admits to Dare that she isn't his wife. Dare responds by...inviting her never-before-mentioned-or-seen sister and brothers to join them mid-sex! You wait to hear her say that these aren't her siblings, and she's getting Butler back at his own game, but I didn't hear her say this (I may have missed it), so I come away thinking this was one of many amateurish attempts at throwing incest into porn of this era for a few minutes of shock (it would be much more shocking today, when "step" has to be attached to every relation). The brothers are Jon Martin and Tom Byron (Martin managing to pull off being a peer to everyone here in spite of being around Leslie's age), styled like a knockoff of an English new wave band, and Dana Dylan, very early in her porn career, as the sister. Martin and Byron bound into the scene literally bobbing and weaving, but other than some gonzo action between Dylan and brothers and some rowdiness via aggressive dirty talk, the scene doesn't have the wildness such a setup should have. Dylan and Dare don't really interact, for whatever reason, which means when one lady is being serviced by the guys, the other is sat next to a downcast Butler. Butler plays this emotion well - maybe a little bit too well, because it just reminds you the whole scene isn't really working. The whole encounter also leaves the narrative of the film a muddle, because you wonder how exactly Dare's world could be shattered by Butler's behavior when she had been sexually involved with her brothers, which is a world away from him having her touch herself in a mirror.
This sequence ends in what is clearly meant to be the biggest shock, when Dylan pulls out a dildo and a stick of butter (the eternal influence of Last Tango...), I briefly wondered if this was going to be treated as a genuinely arousing moment for Butler, if he might get the same treatment Byron later enjoyed on film, but nope - nothing is shown, and the result is treated as comeuppance/rape. Jarring as this moment is, you might be able to accept is as the final scene...but instead, we inexplicably return to a traditional romantic setting, with Butler and Dare near and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, emotional song swelling, two people who want to be together but can't. It's likely an attempt to recreate the final scene of 9 1/2 Weeks, which, interestingly, also has a mention of brothers (Rourke's character presumably did not have sex with them...), but, in spite of some decent emotive work from Butler and Dare, the moment just hasn't been earned.
I'm not sure anyone remembered 10 1/2 Weeks after they popped one out...or popped the tape out of their VCR. One of the reasons is because the film tries to be too many things - a splashing romance alongside dark psychological drama. And that doesn't work with the actor chosen to fill the Mickey Rourke role. Jerry Butler, superstar of the era, has a vague physical resemblance to Rourke. He's also boisterous, charismatic, cocky, and, most importantly for the genre, adds some heat and personality to avoid mechanical sex scenes. Unfortunately there is no real edge to his work, which is crucial. Rather than coming across as leading Barbara Dare (very credible in the Kim Basinger role, adding her own undercurrent of strength) to ruin, he just seems like an overgrown jerk. One has to wonder how John Leslie or Paul Thomas would have settled into this part if they had not been in their twilight years as performers.
Indeed, someone had the idea of putting Leslie in this film, in a throwaway role as Dare's boss, which feels like a prick tease. A scene with Keisha, needlessly intercut with a filler sex scene involving Joey Silvera and the very very thin Siobhan Hunter as underwear models (generous casting for Silvera...), is one of the movie's highlights due to Leslie's usual intensity and a genuinely hot connection, helped by little touches like Keisha leaving her bra on, her natural breasts pouring out the front for Leslie's and our satisfaction. Not only are these two scenes strangely placed into the film (they start the whole thing off before we proceed with many variations of Dare/Butler combos, throwing the pacing of the film way off), they also give us a bittersweet taste of what might have been.
Dare and Butler do have chemistry, both in bed and in the somewhat interchangeable street shots which are half-romance and half-Butler pawing at her, but some of the attempts to show his control border on laughable (maybe that is the intent, I have no idea), one including him wearing a head mirror and having her say her name over and over, and there's no believable progression showing Dare's decline. Most effective are probably the scenes of Dare nude, smoking, which qualify both as a fetish fulfillment for some viewers as well as a stylish touch the relationship itself doesn't really provide.
We, and they, hurtle toward a climax after Dare is left feeling demoralized due to Butler surprising her mid-sex with a threesome involving Nikki Knight. He claims she's his wife, then later admits to Dare that she isn't his wife. Dare responds by...inviting her never-before-mentioned-or-seen sister and brothers to join them mid-sex! You wait to hear her say that these aren't her siblings, and she's getting Butler back at his own game, but I didn't hear her say this (I may have missed it), so I come away thinking this was one of many amateurish attempts at throwing incest into porn of this era for a few minutes of shock (it would be much more shocking today, when "step" has to be attached to every relation). The brothers are Jon Martin and Tom Byron (Martin managing to pull off being a peer to everyone here in spite of being around Leslie's age), styled like a knockoff of an English new wave band, and Dana Dylan, very early in her porn career, as the sister. Martin and Byron bound into the scene literally bobbing and weaving, but other than some gonzo action between Dylan and brothers and some rowdiness via aggressive dirty talk, the scene doesn't have the wildness such a setup should have. Dylan and Dare don't really interact, for whatever reason, which means when one lady is being serviced by the guys, the other is sat next to a downcast Butler. Butler plays this emotion well - maybe a little bit too well, because it just reminds you the whole scene isn't really working. The whole encounter also leaves the narrative of the film a muddle, because you wonder how exactly Dare's world could be shattered by Butler's behavior when she had been sexually involved with her brothers, which is a world away from him having her touch herself in a mirror.
This sequence ends in what is clearly meant to be the biggest shock, when Dylan pulls out a dildo and a stick of butter (the eternal influence of Last Tango...), I briefly wondered if this was going to be treated as a genuinely arousing moment for Butler, if he might get the same treatment Byron later enjoyed on film, but nope - nothing is shown, and the result is treated as comeuppance/rape. Jarring as this moment is, you might be able to accept is as the final scene...but instead, we inexplicably return to a traditional romantic setting, with Butler and Dare near and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, emotional song swelling, two people who want to be together but can't. It's likely an attempt to recreate the final scene of 9 1/2 Weeks, which, interestingly, also has a mention of brothers (Rourke's character presumably did not have sex with them...), but, in spite of some decent emotive work from Butler and Dare, the moment just hasn't been earned.