Elektra Luxx (2011) - Movie Review

Carla Gugino returns to the character Elektra Luxx in... Elektra Luxx... an eccentric drama (or comedy?) about a former porn star. A sequel to the well-regarded Women in Trouble (which was not well regarded by me), the movie is mildly engaging and generally entertaining, if still without a purpose.

Elektra Luxx is a surprisingly star-filled movie featuring the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Timothy Olyphant, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Malin Akerman, Kathleen Quinlan and even Julianne Moore. Whereas Women in Trouble was an ensemble piece, this movie understandably focuses on Elektra and the various situations she gets into.

The movie succeeds largely on writer/director Sebastian Gutierrez's unabashed willingness to take his story in a thousand directions at once. Whereas this would normally be problematic, Gutierrez somehow pulls it off - at least enough to keep you interested.

Whether it's scenes with Gordon-Levitt's porn-loving Internet fan of a character or the ditsy Holly Rocket (Adrianne Palicki) obsessing over her straight female friend (we would too if she looked like Emmanuelle Chriqui), there is enough random, off-the-wall zaniness to keep things interesting.

But I wouldn't call it a comedy, even though IMDB classifies it as such. It's weird, it's random, but it's not really funny. And as a drama... there's nothing memorable here. The same randomness that makes Elektra Luxx interesting also keeps it from being anything more than an instantly fading memory.

I'm not even sure what the movie's purpose is.

Elektra Luxx is not a bad movie, and if you liked Women in Trouble it's much better, but most audiences can give it a pass.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.