Considering the controversial subject matter, this movie is a little too light to tackle these issues efficiently.

Nevertheless, the performances are good and it never gets too boring, but with a bit more work (and courage) at the screenplay level this could've been something more.

Oh well. 5/10

16-year-old Jake Ferrari (Tara Subkoff) needs a place to stay after her mother left again. She tracks down her older sister Darlene (Kristy Swanson) in L.A. who hasn't seen her in a decade. Darlene refuses to take her in but neighbor Marci (Sandra Bernhard) does. Marci manages a massage parlor and Jake gets a job there.

This has a fitting amount of grim. The low budget indie fits the low class establishment. Mostly, I like the actresses although this isn't much of a drama. Subkoff has a slacker, low intensity waif persona. Swanson injects a good amount of mean spirit. I don't buy the ending. The owner would never fire all the girls but at least the movie wraps up quickly. Tension is never that high and it needed to end.

I will admit that this movie managed to hold my attention in a way that many admittedly better movies have not. Reason? There just aren't that many hooker comedies that skirt the subject of sex the way this one does. That struck me as novel while I was watching it and made me think the filmmakers were attempting something more ambitious than the usual chortling over sex. Tara Subkoff is very watchable and likable as a gangly, awkward young prostie wannabe. She has the unique ability to project awkwardness, emotional need and immaturity, mix it up and have it come out something like bohemian cool. I got a lot of insight into a whole generation of disaffected youth watching this flick. Cool, indeed.