Conviction

Veterans Jim Enright and George Kaplan made this Wicked Pictures feature that recalls the wonderful, seemingly effortless Adult movies of old, storytelling and characterizations that in the 21st Century seem to have vanished in a flood of in-your-face gonzo content. This is a perfect example of a tradition that stands the test of time.

Not featuring any of the label's numerous (at the time) and famous contract stars, the movie instead toplines Alexis Malone, quite sympathetic and non-porno seeming heroine of what decades earlier was classified in the mainstream as a "Woman's Picture", or known as Couples Romance in Adult.

She's an executive at a financial investment firm, and falls hard for a client, real estate developer Randy Spears, who needs financing raised for his proposed ski resort near Yellowstone Park in Wyoming.

A well-chosen cast creates interesting characters, including Alana Evans (who looks enough like Malone to be an understudy) as Alexis's assistant, Eva Angelina as her BFF and Evan Stone as personal trainer. Kaplan's sharp dialog punches along the story while Enright fleshes out the production with six love scenes, mostly shot against a romantic backdrop of roaring fireplace.

Title refers to a Victor Hugo quote (which is featured three times over the course of the movie): "The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved". This pretty much defines the story arc for Malone.

Spears is a good choice for a baddie who not only Angelina but any viewer becomes suspicious of from the outset -a slimy smooth talker. Of course, for the story to work Alexis's character is much slower on the draw coming to this realization. Stone in particular is very impressive in underplaying in a role far removed from his usual smug approach. The ladies are all hot and thankfully not drawn from the overexposed column of Chatsworth central casting, with Eva not wearing glasses for a change, and redhead Rebecca Love breast in show by a mile in her lesbian scene opposite butch & beautiful Kat Stevens. Dani Woodward also pops up delivering a sensual blow job.