Rose

This sequel to Casey Calvert's "Grace" is disappointing, adding some drama to the romance of leads Kristen Scott and Ravyn Alexa but plodding along almost as uneventfully as the first movie. My first conclusion was that the two features could conceivably have been edited together into an 80-minute "indie" movie, leaving the two hours of XXX content out.

"Grace" took place at Thanksgiving time, with the two protagonists left hanging -would their romantic relationship continue?. "Rose" jumps ahead to Valentine's Day, but I inferred it was a year-plus in the future, not just under 3 months, as both characters looked completely different, with unbecoming short hairdos.

Movie begins in the middle of a sex scene that plows on for 28 minutes before the story gets going. It's a threesome, with Grace (Ravyn Alexis) now having two-tone hair split down the middle -blonde on one side and brunette on the other. She's making love to Zac Kurtz and superstar Abigail Mac. Neither of these two new characters are fleshed out -they chat at breakfast with Grace the next morning but are merely on screen for the sex.

Of course, their presence serves a plot purpose, too. In the sequel, the lovers Grace and Nadine (Kristen Scott) reunite when Grace takes a plane to Nashville to visit Nadine timed to Valentine's Day. But the crucial story element is that both of them are having sex with other people without telling the other lady. That's how loose their relationship is.

Script pours it on a bit thick with Nadine lying to everyone, not just to Grace but even to her boss, as she makes a booty call to stud Owen Gray while leaving her house guest Grace bored out of her gourd left at home all day and all evening while Nadine is hard at work for Casey at their radio news gig, and then having sex with Owen. Her neglect and lack of courtesy to her guest is outrageous.

Her apologies and the couple's reconciliation are unconvincing, but lead to the ending: a reveal of why the show's titled "Rose", not a character name but a Valentine's Day reference. The prospect of a long-distance romance ongoing is good, perhaps even with a seasonal holiday sequel or two in the cards.

The two films are lumped together under an umbrella title "Seasons" and share not only a nearly identical crew and leading characters, but even the same wistful guitar music score. Lighting for "Rose" is not so good, with some dim-lit interiors. Also, the emphasis on giving the shows a woman's point-of-view overdoes it: in "Rose" the two male characters played by one-shot Zac Kurtz plus journeyman porn actor Owen Gray do display their big dicks, but have almost no dialogue at all, and barely show their faces on screen. Crew member Cam Damage is listed in the cast but I didn't spot Cam -perhaps a bit role as the pizza delivery person.