Tender Is the Heart (Video 2001) Poster

(2001 Video)

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Not a "killer" film, but a good one nonetheless......a rock-solid B.
Smooth B20 June 2003
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen "Killer Sex" four or five times, and what keeps me coming back to it is the storyline. As cheesy as these softcore films can be sometimes, once in a while a film has a decent storyline in addition to sex-a-plenty. It's like icing on the cake when it happens, but if it doesn't, the cake's still there.

Spoilers abound, so read if you must.

Jennifer Gayle, who has a "not really a softcore actress" look about her, plays Christy Redford, a tennis superstar diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Her doctor, Dr. Thomas Freeman, develops a crush on her early on, telling Christy she reminds him of his recently deceased wife, with whom he has sex with in the very first scene (it's actually just his imagination, but a nice touch anyway).

A colleague of Thomas, Dr. Alex Foster, is worried about his buddy being all alone and sets him up with "a real classy lady" as Alex puts it, Raquel (played by Staci Noel, also known as Tracy Ryan and a plethora of other names). Raquel instantly falls for Thomas and nearly sleeps with him on the first date; she literally has to push him out the door so she won't take her clothes off. Raquel gives Thomas a very cheesy speech about Thomas "making a better woman out of her" during this scene. For some reason, that doesn't stop her from partaking in a three-way in the very next scene. It makes no sense storyline-wise, but sometimes sex scenes occur in softcore flicks for no apparent reason. Thomas quickly rebounds into the arms of Christy, who is recovering nicely. Alex takes a liking to Christy's best buddy Beth (Toby Miller), and they go off and have sex almost immediately after meeting.

In a somewhat annoying subplot, A disgruntled former hospital employee hacks into the hospital system and shuts down the power during Christy's brain operation. Thomas is afraid that Christy's health may get progressively worse, so he convinces Alex and Beth to keep it a secret from Christy. Poor Christy finds out her condition over the radio, and gets so steamed she runs off to the nearest bar to get drunk and have sex with a total stranger. She later meets up with a man named Paul, who, after a couple of good sex scenes, makes Christy realize that she needs to take charge of her life and quit letting others run it for her. By now, Thomas has returned to Raquel and is on the verge of proposing, although he's still in love with Christy. When Christy returns, however, she gives him a heartfelt speech, ending with my quote of the movie:

Christy (upon returning the engagement ring): The Christy you knew is dead. But the new, better Christy, is still in love with you. I'd like the chance to start over.

Aww, how sweet. It's a cakewalk from here....Thomas gives a tough explanation to Raquel about his love for Christy, which she reluctantly accepts, and Christy and Thomas make up and live happily ever after.

I thought this was a good film, but not great. The storyline was nifty, however, making this one of the few softcore films that isn't a thriller, mystery or comedy.....simply a drama. True softcore dramas are hard to come by, but this one was very good. I consider it tapeworthy.

Women: B+ (Tracy....um, I mean Staci was okay in her supporting role as Raquel, cheesy speech and all. I liked Toby Miller's acting in this film, even though she wasn't a real knockout in the looks department. Jennifer Gayle brought the total package, folks. She's good looking and a decent actress.)

Sex: B (Plenty of sex scenes, none of any high quality, but all decent to good. Jennifer Gayle has a couple that show off her nice body. The in-the-water three-way was fine; was that Tina Tyler as the second woman with Alex and Raquel? I believe so. Otherwise, the usual bump-and-grind action.)

Story: B- (I liked the basic storyline involving Christy, but some cheesy dialogue ruins certain parts of it for me, especially Raquel's speech to Thomas during their first date. Even Christy's speech at the end was bordering on cheesy. However, the storyline made up for almost everything else.)

Overall: B (I give this movie a solid B. Not a great film by softcore standards, but a good one. The plot didn't get lost somewhere in the middle, and the characters weren't one-dimensional. Of course, there was sex-a-plenty, and it sure helped that Tracy Ryan and Jennifer Gayle are two good looking women. A good softcore drama overall.)
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