Title: Rawhide Studio: Ultimate Pictures / Adam & Eve Director: Nicholas Steele Cast: Olivia Del Rio, Jesse V., Carmen Luvana, Brooke Balentyne, Taylor Rain, Velvet Rose, Kaylani Lei, Natalia Wood, Steven St. Croix, Randy Spears, Julian, Cheyne Collins, Evan Stone, Genres:: Plot, Award Winners, Couples, Drama, One-on-one Condoms: No Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

An epic production, beyond a doubt.

What I’m here to do for you the lucky reader, is separate the good epic, the bad epic, and the ugly epic.

Of exceptional quality: the set, the scenery and all the money that went into the props; video quality (about the best I’ve seen); the music; about half the female cast; and the number of scenes (ten plus two!!).

But wait. What didn’t make it into that list? The sex, the plot, the actual props, the acting; basically, most of the things that make a good porno great. Now then, with all that was invested in the movie, it’s not getting anything less than the 4.0 it got (we are talking about a multi-award winner here) but I’ve gotta be honest, this could have been a whole lot better. In equal honesty, a lot of my disappointments here probably stem from the great expectations and hype surrounding the movie.

Rawhide is a period movie about a ranch set amidst some gorgeous landscape. It’s shot 40 minutes outside LA, but is supposed to look like it could be Idaho or Montana (and this they certainly pull off). Carmen Luvana plays the daughter of a beloved ranch owner who’s died and left her the property. She returns from New York (with buddy Kaylani Lei) and throws the ranchers into doubts that she will sell off the ranch. The hillbillies charm Carmen in various ways, the ranchers fuck like one big incestuous family, and of course, Carmen decides not to sell the ranch. Ta da.

The first thing you should know is that the sex falls very deep in the Couples category; which means it’s not super high intensity: think more tender moaning than ecstatic screaming. I like my sex ecstatic, personally, but there’s more than two hours worth of sex and a pleasant, measured pace for those who prefer the other variety. Perhaps worse than that though, every single scene involves exactly two people (and only one Carmen-Kaylani lesbian scene); this bores me in a five scene movie, it can be excruciating in a ten scene one.

Make no mistake, there was a lot I did like about the sex – good position variety, fantastic camera work, exquisite lighting, and top-notch editing. The last of these includeda few cool slow mo’s as well as fast and furious angle changes back and forth as climax neared; classy stuff. Only thing missing is a touch of passion here and there.

Another way they could have made this movie better was to integrate plot and sex a lot tighter together. If you’re going to have an almost softcore feel to the movie, you really might as well make the sex an integral part of the plot – part of the intrigue that’s pushing the story rather than being tangential to it. It basically doesn’t matter when who fucks who here and there’s no tension in the buildup to scenes; fine for most fuck flicks, but terrible for this mega plot-oriented production. What’s left consists mostly of random hook-ups between the ranchers, and some rather lame romances between a few key characters.

The scenes in between the sex are often drawn out way too long; the first few shots of Carmen and others riding around the open fields are great, but it gets really old really quick. Worse still, for all the expenses, the props and costumes still manage to come off the slightest bit tacky. Except for a tiny handful, the actors can’t really pull off a plot heavy flick – it’s a soap opera plot, but we aren’t even at that standard yet. Carmen comes across alright as the displaced city girl and Steven St. Croix is always one step ahead of most porn stars, but they’re the exceptions. Evan Stone is probably miscast as the tender and sensitive rancher; he can pull off a great many entertaining roles, but this romance novel cowboy role doesn’t scream Evan.

Most importantly, the plot is largely plain ol’ boring. It’s predictable, handles drama badly and if I hear one more thing about the kindly old father figure who used to own the ranch, I’d be ready to pick up a six shooter myself.

Stereotypes abound: naïve kind-hearted city girl, tall dark cowboy (always in black), tomboy cowgirl, sensitive and soft spoken long-haired dude who lives for the open range, evil railroader, and an expansive selection of ranch ho’s. The main events of the movie seem to be Carmen’s arrival and cold reception, bad guy Randy Spears’ offer to buy the ranch, the monthly ranch hoedown, and everyone’s personal “conversion” that makes for the happy ending. I have to say, it really seems like a dedicated effort to convert women who don’t already watch porn.

Of the ten scenes, I’d say three were random “romantic” hook-ups that didn’t even relate tangentially to the story, another three integrated a little better, and the last five somehow involved the love lives of the main characters.

A grand effort that didn’t appeal to all of my tastes, but this huge investment does have a lot going for it, I’ll be the first to admit.