Angelina Jolie gave a memorable performance playing the famous model GIA on TV, but I liked Raven Rockette's take on a similar character even more in this basically all-girl saga from Nica Noelle (distributor takes great pains to stress that it's not taken from real life, just like those disclaimers on every episode of every version of TV's "Law & Order").
The acting is solid down the line here as we see Raven as Gia, an impoverished stripper, who gets discovered by model agency head Veronica Snow (a terrific performer in Nica's acting stable) and is an overnight success. Her romantic relationship with her roommate/fellow stripper Maddy O'Reilly comes undone, and a very familiar ALL ABOUT EVE (minus the melodrama) rivalry between her and top dog model Samantha Ryan leads to a lesbian one-night-stand between them that at least temporarily breaks the ice of Snow Queen Ryan (who has never looked lovelier on screen).
Throw in more sex and supporting turns by Sinn Sage (the other woman role) and Alyssa Branch (blonde jail-bait to keep Snow more than amused) and you have the makings of a quality all-girl soap opera.
Noelle is an old hand at making these dramatics plus explicit sex work, and the biggest defect of GIA is rather poor production values, obviously working on a tiny budget. The apartment shared by Raven and Maddy is meant to be down- market but is so crummy it reminded me of those makeshift sets used in a circa 1971 one-day wonder. Working for Girl Candy Films and producer Jerry Anders, Nica knows her audience, and what to expect in terms of revenues, but this more ambitious project (most of Girl Candy is series features about masseuses who let their fingers do the walking, naughty nuns, strap-on artists and the like) deserved better.
