Annabel Chong is a sweet, 22 year-old masters student in gender studies. Her life took a dramatic turn on January 19, 1995 when she made porn history by starring in the biggest gang bang of all time. Chong took on 251 men in a ten hour period. How’s that for dedication in a porn star? (Since then the record has been beaten several times and the current record holder stands at 1,000.)
The story begins with Annabel (whose real name is Grace) appearing on the Jerry Springer show. She explains herself as the central participant in the largest gang bang ever to a hooting audience. She then goes on to spout fairly pedestrian feminist rhetoric that seems as if it were memorized right from the textbook. The movie doesn’t get much deeper after this scene. While I was expecting a thought-provoking and in-depth look at the porn world, the film ends up playing like an extended episode of Springer. There was really no meat to this film. (Okay, I give up, it’s impossible to write a review of this film without some type of double entendre!) By the end, you end up feeling really sorry for Grace as she confronts her tearful mother with the awful truth about her life. This was the hot ticket at Sundance 1999 and unfortunately disappointed most critics (who would have crawled over broken glass to see a “documentary” about porn, I might add).
