Summary

A Thing of Beauty: Part II builds on the erotic-doc style of filmmaking pioneered by directors RJ Sebastian and Jake Jaxson. This time, the movie is organized around the opening line of RJ's favorite poem, Endymion by John Keats, which also served as the inspiration for the name of the series. Part II, which has a brief cameo by Benny Morecock, the director's third partner, is essentially another visual poetry driven by excitement, adventure, and the joy of sex. The film, which is a collage of interpretation, interweaves explicit passages from the poetry from the directors' personal lives with their symbolic sexual counterparts, CockyBoys Gabriel Clark and JD Phoenix. This lyrical filmmaking technique, though purposefully subjective, is unquestionably linked more by feeling than by reason; it differs from Part I's combination of speculative fantasy and resigned monotony. Few filmmakers are prepared to share a personal aspect of themselves in a pornographic movie, but Jake and RJ are doing so by including Morecock in the movie. Viewers are welcomed in a way they may not have anticipated by the audacity and assurance of the person behind the camera, who invites them to experience the raw passion and strength of sex, the fragrance of the ocean, and the kisses between JD and Gabriel. Gabriel and JD are both terrific actors, and their chemistry and sexual dynamic are real enough to put you in the thick of things.