Once again, I've been fooled. I anticipated watching the first "Sex with a Smile" movie, but apparently the ex-rental tape was a copy of the sequel in the VHS box of the original. This shouldn't necessarily be bad news, because the sequel is even more obscure and harder to find than the first film, but unfortunately it does not star the indescribably beautiful Edwige Fenech or the legendary comedy star Marty Feldman, and they were my main motivations to see it. However, the sequel stars no less than Ursula Andress to compensate slightly for the loss of Fenech' feminine beauty and Barbara Bouchet is present again as well. "Sex with a Smile 2" is typically Italian and even more typically 70's; a very light-headed and insignificant comedy omnibus with a four short tales, all revolving on adultery and voyeurism. The short chapters definitely aren't brilliant, or even highly memorable, but they're quite entertaining while they last and the playful narrative style is guaranteed to bring a couple of smiles on your face. The first story introduces an ambitious private detective (always referring to himself as "Dick") and his cross-eyed assistant. Their assignment is to prove that some guy's wife cheats on him, but she's as faithful as a German Shepard dog. The second story was quite original and joyful. A male macho infiltrates, dressed up like a Polish sex doll, in an all-female soccer team because their usual star hurt her knee two days before the most important match they ever played. All goes well on the field, but slight complications arise in the shower as well as outside the soccer field, where it's very difficult to keep up appearances. The third story is an interesting variation on the Trojan Horse legend, with a burglar perpetrating the villa of a rich couple in a wardrobe. But then the sleazy husband unexpectedly comes home with his luscious French mistress. The last and arguably finest segment stars the lovely Ursula Andress as a lawyer's wife waiting for her lover to join her for an afternoon in "sexual paradise", but the latter doesn't succeed in reaching her apartment because he's mistaken for a deceased neighbor's long lost son. "Sex with a Smile" is a pretty amusing little flick, albeit very forgettable. None of the gags are truly hilarious or cause your stomach to hurt from laughing, but the comical situations are presented at high pace. All the stories are exaggeratedly talkative (the Dutch subtitles couldn't even keep up at times), and many dialogs and one-liners are spot-on witty. Naturally, given the title and all, there's a lot of full frontal nudity and soft-core sleaze on display, but all in good taste. The extremely merry music is terrific, possibly the best element about it. This film, as well as its predecessor, must have formed an interesting chance for director Sergio Martino, who's primarily known for his blood and gore drenched Gialli ("Torso", "All the Colors of the Dark") and violent crime thrillers ("The Violent Professionals"). Recommended, but only if you cherish a passion for obscure and smutty Italian cult cinema.
Review of Spogliamoci così, senza pudor...
