If my memory is correct, when this movie was released it came across as something of a comedy - a funny look at the adult entertainment industry. If that's what it's supposed to be, it doesn't really work. It just isn't that funny. Setting that rather significant (since this is called a comedy!) failure aside, since I have no personal knowledge of the subject matter, I'll avoid comment about the authenticity of the story - which deals with the goings on behind the scenes in a Toronto massage parlour, except to say that - if this is true - the life is pretty dull. 

For over an hour, this movie really doesn't give us much of anything except some background knowledge of the main characters. Conrad is the newly hired manager of the massage parlour whose basic job apparently is to make sure the girls aren't giving "full service" - a euphemism for actual sex. As for the girls themselves, Betty's goal is to buy a parlour of her own so that she can run her own business, Cindy is an illegal immigrant to Canada working to support her family back home and Leah is - well, Leah is a somewhat strange, undefined character with a nipple fetish - true - who seems to be in the business because - well, because she's in it! I have no idea what her character was about. Those three may well fairly reasonable composite characters who accurately represent the motivations of the women who get involved in this business.

The movie meanders about and doesn't offer much until the "twist" reveals Conrad to be the bad guy. We should have gotten to that point sooner. The only thing truly interesting here was that part of the story - Conrad's secret plan and the revenge plotted against him by the girls. That plan for revenge was pretty good, and you're grateful when it comes out because basically up to that point you're wondering why you wasted your time with this. Had the story been more focused on the revenge, this might have actually been a fairly funny movie.

The performances from the 4 leads were all OK, although I didn't think anyone came across as outstanding. All four characters were a bit shallow. Cindy was a sympathetic character, and so was Conrad for a while, although he turns out to be the bad guy of the movie. Given the subject matter, there's surprisingly little nudity (and what there is is restricted to one scene.) In fact, there even a certain air of innocence around a lot of this. As for the overall quality of the movie, it's a low-budget effort, which shows, although you expect a certain griminess, I suppose, of a movie set in the context of a body rub parlour, so that's forgivable. It certainly says something, though, that this was released 8 years ago now and is still the only credit on writer-director Soo Lyu's resume and - given the normal lack of depth in the Canadian film industry - that it wasn't even deemed worthy of being nominated for any Genie Awards - the Canadian version of the Oscars. 4/10 - and I'm being a bit generous with that.

Is the sentiment of this review positive or negative?
OPTIONS:
- negative
- positive
negative
Om mitt minne stämmer, när den här filmen släpptes kom den att framstå som något av en komedi - en rolig titt på den vuxna underhållningsindustrin. Om det är vad det ska vara, så fungerar det inte riktigt. Det är inte så roligt. Att sätta den ganska betydande (eftersom detta kallas en komedi!) Bortsett från misslyckandet, eftersom jag inte har någon personlig kunskap om ämnet, ska jag undvika att kommentera äktheten av historien - som handlar om det som händer bakom kulisserna i en Toronto massagesalong, förutom att säga att - om detta är sant - livet är ganska tråkigt. I över en timme ger den här filmen oss egentligen inte mycket av något förutom lite bakgrundskunskap om huvudpersonerna. Conrad är nyanställd chef för massagesalongen vars grundläggande jobb tydligen är att se till att flickorna inte ger "full service" - en eufemism för faktiskt sex. När det gäller flickorna själva, Bettys mål är att köpa en egen salong så att hon kan driva sin egen verksamhet, Cindy är en illegal invandrare till Kanada som arbetar för att försörja sin familj hemma och Leah är - ja, Leah är en något märklig, odefinierad karaktär med en bröstvårtfetisch - sann - som verkar vara i branschen eftersom - ja, eftersom hon är i det! Jag vet inte vad hennes karaktär handlade om. Dessa tre kan mycket väl ganska rimliga sammansatta karaktärer som exakt representerar motivationen hos de kvinnor som engagerar sig i denna verksamhet. Filmen slingrar sig omkring och erbjuder inte mycket förrän "twist" avslöjar Conrad vara skurken. Vi borde ha kommit till den punkten tidigare. Det enda verkligt intressanta här var den delen av historien - Conrads hemliga plan och hämnden som flickorna konspirerade mot honom. Den hämndplanen var ganska bra, och du är tacksam när den kommer ut eftersom du i princip fram till den punkten undrar varför du slösade bort din tid med detta. Hade berättelsen varit mer inriktad på hämnden, kunde det här faktiskt ha varit en ganska rolig film. Uppträdandena från de fyra huvudrollerna var okej, även om jag inte tyckte att någon kom över som enastående. Alla fyra karaktärerna var lite grunda. Cindy var en sympatisk karaktär, och det var Conrad också ett tag, även om han visar sig vara filmens skurk. Med tanke på ämnet, det finns förvånansvärt lite nakenhet (och vad det finns är begränsat till en scen.) Faktum är att det till och med finns en viss känsla av oskuld kring en hel del av detta. När det gäller filmens övergripande kvalitet är det en lågbudgetsatsning, som visar, även om man förväntar sig en viss grinighet, antar jag, av en film som utspelar sig i samband med en kroppsskrubb, så det är förlåtligt. Det säger något, dock, att detta släpptes för 8 år sedan nu och är fortfarande den enda äran på skribenten-regissören Soo Lyus CV och - med tanke på den normala bristen på djup i den kanadensiska filmindustrin - att det inte ens ansågs värdigt att nomineras till någon Genie Awards - den kanadensiska versionen av Oscarsgalan. 4/10 - och jag är lite generös med det. Är den här recensionen positiv eller negativ? ALTERNATIV: - negativ - positiv
If my memory is correct, when this film was released, it came to seem like something of a comedy - a fun look at the adult entertainment industry. If that's what it's supposed to be, it doesn't really work. It's not so funny. Putting it quite significant (because this is called a comedy!) Apart from the failure, since I have no personal knowledge of the subject, I will avoid commenting on the authenticity of history - which is about what happens behind the scenes in a Toronto massage parlor, except to say that - if this is true - life is quite boring. For over an hour, this film doesn't really give us much of anything except a little background knowledge of the main characters. Conrad is the newly employed director of the massage salon whose basic job apparently is to ensure that the girls do not provide "full service" - a euphemism for actual sex. As for the girls themselves, Betty's goal is to buy her own salon so that she can run her own business, Cindy is an illegal immigrant to Canada who works to support her family at home and Leah is - well, Leah is a somewhat strange, undefined character with a nipple fetish - true - that seems to be in the business because - yes, because she is in it! I don't know what her character was about. These three may well quite reasonably composite characters who accurately represent the motivation of the women involved in this activity. The film winds around and does not offer much until "twist" reveals Conrad to be the villain. We should have come to that point sooner. The only really interesting thing here was that part of history - Conrad's secret plan and the revenge that the girls conspired against him. That revenge plan was pretty good, and you're grateful when it comes out because you're basically up to that point wondering why you wasted your time with this. Had the story been more focused on revenge, this could actually have been a pretty funny movie. The performances from the four lead roles were okay, although I didn't think anyone came across as outstanding. All four characters were a bit shallow. Cindy was a sympathetic character, and it was Conrad too for a while, although he turns out to be the villain of the film. Given the subject, there is surprisingly little nudity (and what there is is is limited to a scene.) In fact, there is even a certain sense of innocence around a lot of this. As for the overall quality of the film, it is a low-budget venture, showing, although one expects a certain grumpiness, I suppose, of a film set in connection with a body scrub, so it is forgiving. It says something, however, that this was released 8 years ago now and is still the only honor on writer-director Soo Lyus' CV and - given the normal lack of depth in the Canadian film industry - that it was not even considered worthy to be nominated for any Genie Awards - the Canadian version of the Academy Awards. 4/10 - and I'm a little generous with that. Is this review positive or negative? ALTERNATIVE: - negative - positive
negativ
negative