Geekscape Movie Review: Elektra Luxx

Women in Trouble was a fun, small, creative picture, that was just as much about character as it was about experimentation. Women in Trouble was a small movie, telling the tale of ten women making their way through life in Los Angeles. While it wasn’t revolutionary in it’s style it was quietly insurgent in it’s delivery of a message. Women are complicated. This simple yet well known fact is the basis for an intriguing and optimistic look at the xy impaired of LA. So much is left to explore, from the film a sequel has sprung up.
The follow up film to “Women in Trouble” is equally complex, yet simple. I hate to start a deluge of complications, but the film Elektra Luxx is as close to the film metaphor of a contradiction as you can possibly get. Simple yet complicated, feminist yet accesible, cliche yet refreshing, Elektra Luxx is a bit of a conundrum.
If you haven’t seen Women in Trouble, you have a little bit of catching up to do, because while it is marketed as a companion piece, Elektra Luxx is very much a sequel. Having seen Women in Trouble I can’t imagine how someone who hasn’t seen it would follow along to the plot of Luxx without feeling they missed a beat somewhere.
Elektra Luxx picks up with our heroine, Carla Cugino’s Elektra, teaching a self help/sex education class at a community center. That simple bliss is soon disrupted by a young woman claming to have insight on Luxx’s predicament, namely her ex/baby daddy’s final thoughts/songs about Elektra.

From there Elektra starts an introspective journey that has her crossing paths with a private eye (played by Timothy Olyphant), her twin sister, and even the virgin Mary. Elektra has some weighty issues on her mind, and those issues are addressed by some weighty companions.
The film breaks into 3 vignettes, the first following the title character Elektra as she comes to terms with her impending motherhood and lack of a future. The second following Bambi (Emanuelle Chiriqui) and Holly (future Wonder Woman Adrienne Palicki), and the final story following Joseph Gordon Levitt’s porn blogger, Bert Rodriguez.
The three storylines that comprise the film don’t have much in the way of cross over, but they all three equally deal with self actualization and hope.
Elektra is dealing with the idea of a) being a mother and b)is she entitled to any happiness due to her choices in life. These central themes are dealt with in the same way we all deal with our own lives, “Do I stand a chance?” Elektra has to look back on her choices and relationships and while somewhat hokey, Carla Gugino makes an excellent surrogate. She takes us through Elektra’s life choices in such a way we never lose sight of an innocence she has held onto.

Holly and Bambi (Adrianne Palicki and Emmanuelle Chiriqui respectively) have a different journey of introspection ahead of them. Two characters that also carry over from Women in Trouble, Holly is a character trying to bridge a friendship with Bambi into a relationship. Palicki’s Holly is the simplest of characters in the film, but also the one with the clearest vision. She wants Bambi, heart and soul, and it’s a simple story of making her come to terms with the love she has vs. the attention Bambi wants to pursue. Palicki’s portrayal of Holly may be the highlight of the film as she has to make Bambi realize she is better than the the person she has let herself become and as in love with Holly as the rest of us have become at this point.(No seriously, I dare anyone to watch this movie and not develop a crush on Adrianne Palicki.)

The 3rd arc running in the film is that of one Bert Rodriguez. (Joseph Gordon Levitt, though the rest of the cast seems to call him Joey) Bert hits a little close to home as he is passionate, yet respectful, and frankly, a 100% accurate depiction of the geeks that blog and obsess about their favorite stars. Bert is a bit of a conundrum; both chivalrous and misogynistic, sexist and feminist, Bert is the thousands of men who grew up with film as a male role model. We don’t know what to expect from women, mostly because we don’t know what to expect from ourselves. It takes an outside influence to realize he’s worth a damn (which comes in the form of Malin Akerman, not bad). If there is one character the men can associate themselves with it’s Levitt’s Bert Rodriguez, and thankfully he represents the best of what we hope for in ourselves.
Elektra Luxx, while technically wanting, in message is a heartfelt love letter to the human condition of wanting to be needed, loved, and even desired. The optimism oozing off of this movie is palpable. This movie genuinely gives hope, not just because it’s optimistic at it’s core, but because it can make you realize, someone get’s it. Someone (namely Gutierrez) shares your hope in the best in people. Every single character in this movie could have been a cynical bastard, but they’re written with such hope and verve that you can’t help but get wrapped up in their predicament and wish the best for them.
The movie, frankly, conveys an optimism rarely seen in Hollywood nowadays. I can freely admit the movie is technically flawed, but the overwhelming positivity Elektra Luxx exudes easily over powers it’s imperfections.
From the get go you give in to the nuanced performances from a brilliant cast. No one in this cast feels less than commited to the character they have created in this movie. It’s quite fun to watch as they explore a fully realized character. Does the robust characterization cause a sacrifice of plot? Sadly, yes, but the simplicity of the tale being told make it easy to digest the overall intent. The sincere performances of the actors make this movie. And it’s that sincerity that you end up appreciating in the end, regardless of a lack of plot.