We Don’t Want Sunny Leone to Die in “Gia”

"This is not a parody," says Sunny Leone. "It's serious." If anyone else had said that about their porn version of the Angelina Jolie cult classic "Gia," we would laugh. But we believe everything Sunny Leone says.

Gia: Portrait of a Porn Star

Studio: SunLust
Director: Spencer Benedict
Starring: Sunny Leone, Ron Jeremy, Lexi Belle, Dale Dabone, Tori Black, Brianne Benson, Bill Bailey

Review by: Gram Ponante

To be clear, this movie imagines that the porn world is big enough to accommodate actual stardom, so that falls from grace and fame appear that much more dramatic than how those things normally manifest themselves in the porn world.

That said, Leone and writer/director Spencer Benedict do place the Gia narrative pretty effectively into a porn context and, because it was their own money at stake, boldly went against formula and let the character actually die.

Along the way, though, we encounter Lexi Belle, Tori Black, and Brianne Benson (who looks far more porn-hardened than her counterpart in the source material, Elizabeth Mitchell), which makes it all worth it.

But it is Leone who is clearly the star. She looks beautiful throughout the film, even in scenes where she is supposed to be in heavy withdrawal ("I've never been in withdrawal," Leone says in a backstage interview on the 2-disc set, "but I watched this scene last night").

Come to think of it, I felt Angelina Jolie was pretty hot in rehab, too, all rocking back and forth with her sleeves pulled over her wrists, "Girl Interrupted"-style. Having only watched both the original "Gia" and the porn version recently, I credit Amy Winehouse with raising my tolerance for the attractiveness of addicts.

But at the risk of contradicting the delightful Ms. Leone, "Gia" is a parody, but of the new, dark variety. The cast doesn't play things for laughs, which makes some of the drama awkward, but it is a solid effort and a movie that will doubtless have you ejaculating through your tears.

· Sunny Leone (sunnyleone.com)
· Buy "Gia: Portrait of a Porn Star" (gamelink.com)