My review was written in January 1986 after watching the movie on a video cassette screener.
"Love Scenes" is a behind-the-scenes look at filmmaking, styled as a soap opera with nudity and simulated sex scenes included (since the feature was made for The Playboy Channel). Shot in 1983, pica was cablecast by Playboy last fall and has recently been programmed by another cable service, Cinemax.
Tiffany Bolling, a promising starlet over a decade ago and now a handsome, mature woman, toplines in a story which plays like Blake Edwards' "S. O. B.", but without the intended humor and acid satire. Val (Bolling) is a bankable Hollywood star eventually won over by her director husband Peter (Franc Luz) and his agent-producer Sydney (Jack Carter) to star in a frankly erotic feature penned by former actress Melinda (Julie Newmar).
Though the film project, titled "Lovescene', is almed for a hard R rating, Val becomes aroused in her first love scene with costar Rick (Daniel Pilon), resulting in tastefully filmed footage of an actual sex act, complete with her having an orgasm. Complicating matters is the fact, which Val confides to her photographer pal Annie (Britt Ekland), that she' has been faking the big O with hubby Peter throughout their five-year marriage.
Film suffers from overly predictable story development, with Melinda quitting as rewrites alter her original screenplay conception, Val having an affair off-camera with Rick and ultimately making up with her husband. Also, as often happens in backstage stories, the film-within-a-film is uninteresting and often merely an excuse to get in some more sex scenes. At times it seems that the issues raised would have relevance only to Bo and John Derek, though they would likely be amused at the old-fashioned hangups presented here. Ironically, "Love Scenes" had "Ecstasy" as its alternate title, the same alternate title (spelled differently) used by he Dereks briefly for their "Bolero" film.
Bolling gives an uninhibited performance featuring frequent nudity but hampered by the gauche soap opera acting style which permeates the project. Costar Luz is miscast, coming off as way too laidback for the dramatic scenes. Director Bud Townsend, best known for helming several horror pics, "Coach" and the 1976 porno version of "Alice in Wonderland", does a competent job but despite the subject matter errs on the side of blandness.
