Synopsis from IMDB.com: [Link]

When a man selects a mail order bride, he is surprised to see the beauty who appears before him. She alleges that she sent false photos to him to assure that he would love her for what she is and not for her beauty. However, what she is a con artist, prostitute, and actress, who teams with a fellow actor to steal money from men. What she does not expect is that she falls in love with her new husband and ultimately must decide between him and her sadistic former lover. Contains explicit sex including sadistic acts as Thomas Jane cuts Jolie’s back with a knife as part of their lovemaking.

Sounds corny right?  Kind of?  Oh the knife?  Yeah not so corny after all 🙂

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My obsession with Angelina Jolie?  Legendary.  If I have to ever choose between her and Vin Diesel?  Angelina by a mile.

She is the only reason why I ever watched this movie.  Sure some folk think that Antonio Banderas is sexy, and as a single woman I would not kick him out of bed for breadcrumb violations, but I hate to see him ‘act’.

If he is in the movie?  I go >>>>>>>that way>>>>>>>

But this movie had Angelina Jolie. *drool*

So I felt compelled to watch it, and I am so happy that I did.

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I believe in true romance and despite the ‘flavor’ of this film that is what this is at it’s core, a romance.

Two people, who did not necessarily think they could love one another, find a passion that they would kill to keep.

A woman beautiful beyond measure, thinks herself an ugly  duckling and damaged, until the love of a man shows her that she is always beautiful as long as he is looking at her.

A man who’s passions are elsewhere until he meets the woman who can show him what passion truly is and how to use it.

A couple who need one another are torn from each others arms by circumstance and life choices in the end to find that they can not live without one another and that the life they eventually live is not the one they ever planned on living.

Any wonder why I love this movie?

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During my first viewing I started to turn after the first love making scene, but then there were Angelina boobies so I kept watching hoping to see them again.

I watched as her deception became obvious…I cried when she left him the first time…I cheered when he found her and still loved her….I got wet watching Angelina with the not Antonio male lead….I cried as he failed in the card game…I got wet when she was the party favor….I hollered when he drank the poison…and I clapped when they were in Morocco.

The running theme in the movie is that you can not walk away from love.  I understand that well.

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Make no mistake about it, Angelina’s character turned Antonio’s character out when the movie first started….but his love for her went beyond the physical.

Make no mistake about it Angelina wanted the chance at a legitimate life with him, but getting gang banged on a poker table…..even for a woman of her history and talents is a little much to process.

I can relate to the story of a woman, who settles for something less than because she does not feel she deserves more, and the man who refuses to let her go no matter how hard she fights him.  Yes, yes I can.

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The ‘tag line’ in the trailers goes: this is not a love story…but is it not?

So what the heroine likes her sex rough and with a little cutting?  It is still a love story.

The story of a boy and a girl who did not know they were looking for one another until they found one another….and who kept fucking up their chances and wasted time they could have spent together.

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Even the music tells a story:  by Gloria Estefan : You Can’t Walk Away From Love:

Lyrics:


Here I am before you
Naked in your eyes
Hoping with each kiss
You will never see through my disguise
I have been made to believe
That no one could love me for me
The good and the bad
First to the last
No matter the cost
No matter the past

Your eyes only see what they wanna see
Your heart makes the truth what you want to believe
Passion turns pain into ecstasy
You can`t walk away from love
Loving you more than I do myself
Revealing the things I would never tell
Daring to risk even life itself
You can`t walk away from love

There will be no other
Lips against my skin
No need to regret
How can pleasure ever be a sin
I tried to make you believe
You meant almost nothing to me
Through all the lies
Chasing a dream
Finding at last
The woman in me

Your eyes only see what they wanna see
Your heart makes the truth what you want to believe
Passion turns pain into ecstasy
You can`t walk away from love
Loving you more than I do myself
Revealing the things I would never tell
Daring to risk even life itself
You can`t walk away from love

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Yes, I know this story very well.