Serious, getting to see Paris Hilton in the embarrassing positions she winds up in during this film makes it all worthwhile. Seriously, who else deserves to take it in the face and have everyone see who's got $17.99 to spare? Maybe Nicole Ritchie, but Paris is the ultimate "I'm famous cuz I'm famous, but I'm really just a rich, talentless air-headed tramp" skank gets hers, at the hands (and camera) of her ex-boyfriend, and in various naughty positions to boot. You will not regret being witness to...um, wait, this isn't One Night in Paris? Oops. My bad.*grin*

If not for the creamy Agathe de la Fontaine, this would be a wholly sad and laughable affair. There is something about French girls with their full lips and flushed faces. Mickey Rourke increasingly creepy facial features don't make him the ideal romantic lead. Mix in a stolen plot straight from Last Tango In Paris and un-erotic direction from the person who brought us Embrace of the Vampire and Poison Ivy II, and you have a movie that no one could love no matter where they live. My biggest draw back is the miss use of Angie Everhart, one of the few redheads in movies. She can play an icy fatale better than most, but she is not so good as the girl looking for love, although she does look good with rose petals and honey smeared on her. The original, directed by Adrian Lyne, is one of the better erotic fests with a more convincing lead in Kim Basinger and a smoother faced Rourke.

I rented this one thinking it might be an entertaining bit of tawdry trash with some cheap thrills. It is. It is also one of the saddest love stories ever. I can't say I "enjoyed" Another 9 1/2 Weeks, but I can say that I love the movie's romantic streak. It's a terribly sad romantic streak, but a great romantic streak nonetheless. Another 9 1/2 weeks is also cheesy and trashy. It's cheesier and trashier bits actually work to the movie's advantage by adding much needed levity to a very tragic story. Some have said the filmmakers should have had Mickey Rouke's character move on after losing his great love, but that would have diminished the power of their connection. He can't just move on. She's gone and he can't change that. There's no way out from his torturous pain. Mickey Rourke makes you believe it. The filmmakers were smart in building their entire film around him. He truly seems like he's been through Hell. His character begins the film in tremendous pain and ends the film in tremendous pain. There's no happy ending (although I like to imagine he changed his name to Marv and moved to Sin City). Another 9 1/2 Weeks isn't an easy movie to enjoy. Very few love it, but I do. I rented it, watched it, and then I bought it.

The original 9 1/2 weeks was a fun and sexy film that was full of life. Another 9 1/2 Weeks is almost the exact opposite of the first film and that's why so many fans of the first film were so unhappy with this one. This ain't 9 1/2 Weeks. In this one the character of John is so devastated by the loss of Elizabeth (his lover from the first film) that in the opening moments he places a gun to his head. It doesn't get any happier from there. A few scenes later he looks out his window and sees a once beautiful horse being turned into a dead one. That pretty much describes the state of John and of this sequel. It's a dark dirge of a movie with none of the joy of the first film and that's the whole point. We see John with sexual partners, including a prostitute he tries to pretend is Elizabeth, but there's zero chemistry even with the film's lead actress Angie Everhart. Elizabeth departure has left a void in John's soul and few know the dark places of a man's soul like Mickey Rourke. Just take a look at his performance in Angel Heart if you have any doubts. This time Rourke's face has become so battered from boxing that his appearance fits his character's emotional devastation perfectly and this is underscored by the film's black and blue cinematography. Rourke's John truly seems to be a man who has lost everything as he wanders from the art galleries to the dark alleys of Paris like a ghost searching for some glimpse of redemption. It's not a pretty picture and it's not supposed to be. This is film about pain, loss, and regret. It's a joyless purgatory of a film which works best as a canvas for Rourke's haunting performance as the devastated John. This is not 9 1/2 Weeks. This sequel is bleak, dark, and tragic. That's what I like about it.