Miles' Rating:

Starring: Another of director Paul Thomas's intimate character-driven mini-dramas for those who believe porn can be more endless loops of first-timers getting popped in the ass. That's a warning to all you all you raincoaters. This is not for you. "If You Only Knew" is Thomas's riff on friendship and maturity. And though only partially successfull, it's solid effort. While Thomas regular Taylor Hayes gets top billing, the directors is more intrigued with Joey Ray, a waiter turned architect who's cast off his uninhibited side after marrying Hayes, who we learn is pregnant but unable to tell her distracted hubby. Enter Dale DeBone, Ray's still wild best friend who urges Ray to return to his bad-boy roots, something Hayes desires. But can he do it?

Top notch. Thomas's films play as well, if not better, than the softcore pablum on cable.

Since much of the sex is shown in flashback, the fucking feels disconnected from the plot. Still, with such game fuckers as Chelsea Sinclaire and Claudia Atkins providing the heat, their scenes sizzle.

Hayes is a smoldering presence, but Atkins, a natural intense Euro beauty, delivers the best scenes as the wild-child girlfriend Ray leaves for Hayes.

The film never reaches the level of emotional intensity for which Thomas was aiming. Hayes's character, so central to the guy's relationship, remains curiously underdeveloped.

Still, it's a superior product. An 8.

Posted By Miles, www.excaliburfilms.com | 10/12/06 1:58 PM