To Sunset Thomas On Her 37th Birthday: Here’s Your Virginity Back

The problem is an existential one: If a man does not come on his partner's face and/or tits and/or hair and/or belly and/or ass, has Porn happened? Let's check in with birthday girl Sunset Thomas.

Into the Sunset

Studio: Sol Y Mar
Director: Axel Braun
Cast: Sunset Thomas, Ron Jeremy, Penny Flame, Brooke Banner, Mia Presley, Lexi Love, Roma, Nick Manning, Mikey Butders, Marco Banderas, Jay Lassiter, Chris Bellis

Review by: Gram Ponante

So often porn stars shoot their final movie without knowing they're doing it, because few achieve the kind of fame Sunset Thomas has. But Thomas, long associated with both VCA Pictures and the Moonlite Bunnyranch, disappears into the sunset as one lucky fan gets to disappear into her.

But the problem is an existential one: If a man does not come on his partner's face and/or tits and/or hair and/or belly and/or ass, has Porn happened?

Sunset Thomas began her porn career in 1991 and retired in 2004 after appearing in more than 300 movies, including "Latex" and "Misty Beethoven." "Into the Sunset" (hard to believe anyone had the restraint to not use that title until now) is a pleasantly staged mockumentary of Thomas' quest for "not a porn guy - the perfect guy" with whom to shoot her final - and she means it this time - movie.

At first the movie plays like a 90's porno, heavy on the voiceovers and phone-sex modulation, the rhinestone glamor, and the evocation of a time when porn stars were fewer and their movies bigger events.

After a signing at Hustler Hollywood on the Sunset Strip in which she lets a starstruck fan squeeze her boobs, a melancholy Thomas is chauffered back to her home by an amiable middle-aged fan, Tony.

"Please make another movie, Miss Thomas," Tony pleads from the driver's seat of the limo. Unfortunately, we never see him again.

Back at home, Thomas reflects on a life well-rode, and can't help but masturbate. I masturbate, too, when I think of my multiple Science Fair victories. But Thomas has an epiphany as she climaxes: she needs to make one more movie.

For some reason she imparts this news to Penny Flame, Mia Presley, and Brooke Banner, who happen to be lounging in her home. "Call Larry Flynt," she commands them. "Let him know about this."

She tells the girls that they will help her find her final film fling, and the second act of the movie consists of Thomas checking in on the girls as they fuck the prospects.

But just as reality television has gobbled up the work of real actors, porn professional Nick Manning is incensed that Thomas is picking her final stud from the hoi polloi. He stalks over to her house but is intercepted by the pardine Brooke Banner, in whom seconds are never sloppy. Still, when Manning drops loads he bellows "Where's Sunset?"

When her fan is chosen (he's the guy from the signing), Ron Jeremy is employed to give him a couple of tips, which include "Forget everybody else in the room."

As the movie progresses, it seems to lose focus and become less special; it loses its quirky quality. This is not helped by the poor fan, who confesses that the job is harder than it looks (and all that implies).

Yes, I watched the final scene twice and I don't think our friend was able to climax. He was left to eat out Thomas while Marco Banderas fucked her.

If you can forget that the very object of the film was not consummated in a pornic sense, "Into the Sunset" is a terrific movie.

So what do we learn from this?

That porn is a real job that shouldn't be entrusted to amateurs. And know what else? This one doesn't have to count as Sunset Thomas' last movie. In fact, it's almost as if Thomas regained her virginity.

· Hustler (hustler.com)
· Buy "Into the Sunset" (hustlerworld.com)