I feel stuck with David Lord, a prolific pornographer working for two of my all-time favorite labels (Adam & Eve and Wicked Pictures) who consistently delivers mediocre -at best- content.
"Casual Encounters" is a bit of an experiment, in which dialog is omitted even though it is a story/character movie, and instead the narrative is clumsily carried by tons of texting so we can read the surrogate for dialog on screen instead of hearing it. Overall effect is akin to those English subtitles one sees by activating the hard of hearing option in which we read "Footsteps" or "Song being sung" to help fill in what one is unable to hear.
Overall, Lord's experiment renders the show cold and remote, a technique that propelled Jean-Pierre Melville's classic Alain Delon film noir "Le Samourai" but is a total flop here.
Subject as indicated in the title is modern folk, namely Jessica Drake and Derrick Pierce, seeking out no-strings attached sexual liaisons, like One Night Stands. Story's interest centers on Derrick's impulse for domination that converts this simple story hook into a slightly suspenseful set of vignettes leading unfortunately to an unsatisfying conclusion.
Thinness of this gimmicky approach is signalled at the outset, as opening credits list only Drake and Pierce., the rest of the cast omitted as irrelevant. Olivia Austin shows up in the final reels as a grossly underwritten enrfecharacter crucial to the final plot twist, and adds sexiness as almost a wake-up call interrupting the cumulative tedium.
As a film buff I grew up watching thousands of subtitled foreign films, and have always resented the general public's largely knee-jerk rejection of watching any movie with subtitles. Yet here I am made to suffer through the unnecessary gimmick of reading dumb text messages scene after scene.
I wanted to give Lord an E for effort, but he flunked this course.
