My first foray into the works of Cecil Howard, and im kind of uncertain how to take it. They say the line between ‘Adult’ cinema and ‘Art House’ is a hairs breadth, but with ‘Scoundrels’ I feel like, without a wider context of Howards ‘Ouvre’ Im uncertain as to whether this film is ACTUALLY TRYING to be an art house picture that just so happens to be centered around sex, or if its trying to lampoon art house cinema for the sheer amount of tropes it trips while going through its 81 minute runtime.
What I can say is, whatever it IS trying to be/do…I enjoyed it. The film sort of reminded me of ‘American Beauty’…But…y’know…its actually good.
As we follow Ron Jeremy giving a HELL of a performance here as psychiatrist Simon. Simon lives a quasi painful existence, fully aware that his wifes cheating on him with his best friend, but too gutless to ever directly address it, Simon finds himself trapped in an unloved suburbian hell. His daughter, an elder high school student, SHOULD be preparing for her finals, but instead has fallen in with a bad crowd and is experimenting with drugs and sex and falling ever closer to prostitution.
His wife? cares about him, but fell out of love with him years ago due to his total loss of passion as his work exhausts him and an affair and regular trips to the brothel form just another crust of the drudge.
The huge tangle of affairs, betrayal and lies slowly begins to boil over however as his daughters boyfriend begins and affair with his wife and Simons secretary (whome Simon is having an affair with) ALSO begins ANOTHER affair/relationship with Simons best friend who’s ALSO having an affair with Simons wife…somethings gotta give.
And what I love about this film is its themes of isolation and the erosion of the self through the enforced stereotypes of the nuclear family (honestly, I thought this was just going to be comedy boobies for 80 minutes. But im SO glad it was SO much more thanb that)
The scripts WAY above the callibre of the usual ‘Adult’ film offering, presenting ACTUAL, hard hitting, real feeling drama that isnt afraid to experiement within the genre. the pacings maybe a little slow around the middle, it could have lost 10 minutes and not lost any momentum. But the plot itself is intreaging and engaging, the act structuring (barring the slowdown) is excellent, the dialogue, for an adult feature, is BEYOND impressive. the characters are complex, deep, rich and interesting, and the film ends on a curveball I genuinely didnt expect that kept me hooked WELL beyond the final shot.
The directions superb, if its a parody/homage to art house, its a bloody good one, as theres SUCH a distinct and creative vision present here. Its SO refreshing to see a film maker have such a clear drive in the message they want to deliver. and I was honestly blown away by the creative decisions present here, not only in the visuals, but in the guiding of the cast. Again, I havent seen any of Cecils work beyond this film. But he absolutely ASTOUNDED me with how he carefully curated and guided the cast through this. I wont go as far as to say they’re perfect, but they easily ALL deliver career highpoints in this thing. I honestly think this may well be the greatest film Ron Jeremy ever made (with ‘Super Hornio bros’ in close 2nd OBV’s)
The cine is clean, razor sharp, ULTRA curated sequences with GORGEOUS composition that oozes eroticism at EVERY turn. its a damn good looking picture which isnt afraid to experiment with colour and lighting. Scenes are engaging, interesting and largely enhanced with a pretty solid edit that again, isnt afraid to experiment with the genre (though to me, it does stumble a few times in terms of the cuts it uses in places and there are a few moments where the score feels noticably absent which I feel really would have helped take some of the scenes to the next level) I LOVE that they use flash cuts of the porn in this whenever our characters think to a past ‘encounter’ rather than just doing the dreary slow blur crossfade that was notorious for this era. those quick cuts fly by before you really fully process what you’ve just seen…But they leave a HELL of an impression as to what you *think* you’ve seen…its wonderful.
The soundtracks solid too, though, for me? a little too on the nose…I get that this is adult film making, and that subtlety ISNT widely considered to be a key aspect. But they really lean into pieces from ‘Pagliacci’ alongside visuals of Jeremy and his family in clown makeup. the first time it was used, I thought it was fine. But its REPEATED use across the whole runtime was what gradually made me think that maybe this WASNT aiming to be an arthouse piece, but rather a parody of an arthouse piece because…it gets kind of rediculous by the end for how much its used.
Nevertheless…I HIGHLY recommend ‘Scoundrels’ I didnt know what to expect from it, but it FAR passed my expectations and genuinely impressed me as a work. Its more than ‘just porn’, its a sincere family drama that just so happens to be graphic. and it’s absolutely nudged me to go and check out more of Cecil Howards work. Recommended.
TYTD Reviews 