Late-night cable isn't where you go for great dialogue, character development, wonderful soundtracks, or well-written scripts, but even given these low expectations "Pleasureville" fails to deliver.
The premise is of a video store run by extra-terrestrial aliens whose video tapes (introductory tape is free to every customer) brainwash people into having sex with whomever is in the room with them. The movie has people popping the tape into their VCRs, a flash/montage of intercourse clips follow (about a second long), and then the people have sex. This motif is repeated throughout the move: see video, have sex.
Our hapless hero makes his Cassandra-esque way through the town, trying to warn others of the dangers of the brainwashing video, but to no avail: everyone feels they need to survey the tape to "see what all the fuss is about."
There are some continuity errors that make this reviewer concerned about the attention paid to production: a man seen shirtless in one scene is seen wearing a button-up shirt, tucked in in the next scene -- having it removed by the women he's having sex with (in the storyline, barely a few minutes have passed).
While the production values may have suffered, the acting remains top-notch. We get to see many familiar faces from the industry performing at the height of their craft.
Viewers of all backgrounds will no doubt be touched by the poignancy of the scene in the barn where our hero tries to discuss the circle of life juxtaposed against the peril of their situation with the space aliens with his amnesiac girlfriend.
One of the songs in the soundtrack about lost love, done in a hearty impression of Alanis Morrisette, is surely a treat no viewer could ignore.
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