Paul Thomas's scriptwriter Dean Nash stretches self-indulgence into new realms in this ridiculous combination of a pornographer's navel gazing and attempts at ridiculous plot twists. Along with its sequel, it's designed to please fans of false endings and pseudo-cleverness.
Of course the porn industry awards for the year made it out to be "Lawrence of Arabia" or "West Side Story", a reflection on how dubious these accolades are. In reality it should have won Adult Cinema's version of the Razzies.
PT is the central character, cast as a great porn director who is seeking truth, spontaneity in his films and above all players "living in the moment". That and a score of other cliches form the backbone of Nash's script, which PT manages to make worse with lousy direction. (Get those award trophies ready!)
It's something of a vehicle to then-current top Vivid contract player Taylor Hayes, whose beautiful face and body are on display but whose acting is quite poor here. She's a hayseed actress traveling to L.A. with her boyfriend/manager/director Dale DaBone and their trusty (up to a point) cameraman Voodoo, on the invitation of PT based on submission of an X-rated audition tape.
The corny tale of being exploited and manipulated in the Entertainment Capital is as old as those 1930s exploitation films Hollywood used to crank out, and Nash merely uses it to provide PT with a soap box concerning his views on how the Adult industry has deteriorated. Of course gonzo and all-sex content has made PT's vaunted feature films passe, but "Fade to Black" merely underscores this fact.
Dale DaBone is a talented actor, but PT has him so shrill and one-note in the paper-thin character Nash has created (selfish and always looking out for Number One at the expense of Hayes) that his performance is tiring and horrible. The sex scenes are poor, and poor Julie Meadows is stuck playing her usual anal-sex specialist, given a mind-numbing ton of verbal exposition late in the show to explain exactly what us simple-minded viewers may have missed in the heavy-handed previous scenes.
Staging of the various false-endings is extremely poor, with zero credibilty created. I was able to guess Nash's key plot twist a mile away, and sure enough, the sequel made four years later by the team is even worse.
