''Finding Bliss'' is a 2009 romantic comedy film written and directed by filmmaker Julie Davis (''

Amy's Orgasm ''Amy's Orgasm'' (title censored to ''Amy's O'' in many video shops) is a 2001 film directed by Julie Davis. It stars Julie Davis as Amy, a 29-year-old Jewish woman who usually avoids dating as she does not believe in love. The film won the "Au ...

''). ''Finding Bliss'' explores the pornographic film industry through the eyes of an idealistic 24-year-old film school grad, Jody Balaban (played by

Leelee Sobieski Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta "Leelee" Sobieski (born June 10, 1983) is an American artist and former actress. She achieved fame in her teens with roles in films such as '' Deep Impact'', ''Eyes Wide Shut'', '' Joy Ride'', '' Here on Earth'', a ...

Plot

After a long humbling year temping as a traffic cop on a studio lot, Jody is faced with the hard decision of taking the only well-paying industry job she has yet been offered — editing porn at Grind Productions, a profitable adult film company run by former

porn star A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dis ...

Irene Fox (Kristen Johnston). At first horrified by the prospect of exposing herself to the cockroaches of the film industry, not to mention the effect it would have on her strict Jewish parents, Jody has a remarkable change of heart when she realizes that Grind has all the facilities she needs to make her own low budget movie — on the sly of course — but things get complicated when Jody meets Jeff Drake (Matthew Davis), the charming Herr Director of adult films. Jeff, also an award-winning filmmaker, once had his own dreams of making "real" films, but now is a hard-worn cynic who masks his disappointment behind a façade of irony. In Jody, he sees the idealism he once had, while Jody starts to face her own sexual hang-ups as she begins to get aroused by the porn she so harshly judges. Jody and Jeff get close to each other, but she gets hurt when she sees him making out with one of his actresses, Sindi, who was actually taking advantage of Jeff in his drunken state. The movie made by Jody is well received by critics, and Jeff is also nominated for an AVN Award for his movie. Jody wants to set things right with him; she accepts help from Bliss, the lead actress in both Jody's and Jeff's movies, but with different identities, and pretends to be her to gain entry at an award function. On stage, when Jeff receives his award, he announces his retirement from the Adult Industry to move on. Jeff calls Bliss for special thanks. He realizes that Jody is in disguise as Bliss, and they kiss.

Cast

as Jody Balaban *

Matthew Davis Matthew Davis, also professionally known as Matt Davis, is an American actor. He is mostly known for his roles as Warner Huntington III in ''Legally Blonde'', Adam Hillman on the ABC comedy-drama ''What About Brian'' from 2006 to 2007 and Alar ...

as Jeff Drake *

Denise Richards Denise Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, television personality, and former fashion model. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in '' Wild Things'' (1998) and Bond gi ...

as Laura/Bliss *

Mircea Monroe Mircea Monroe (born March 11, 1982) is an American model and actress, known for her roles on the TV series '' Episodes'' as Morning Randolph (2011–2017), ''Hart of Dixie'' as Tansy Truitt (2011–2015), '' Impastor'' as Alexa Cummings (2015–2 ...

as Sindi *

Jamie Kennedy James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in '' The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His oth ...

as Richard 'Dick' Harder *

Kristen Johnston Kristen Angela Johnston (born September 20, 1967) is an American actress. Best known for her work on television sitcoms, she twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Sally Solomon in ...

as Irene * P. J. Byrne as Gary *

Caroline Aaron Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born ) is an American actress. She is known for her performances in films like Mike Nichols' ''Heartburn'' (1986) and ''Primary Colors'' (1998), as well as Woody Allen's '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989), ' ...

as Debra Balaban *

Tim Bagley Timothy Hugh Bagley (born August 17, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, who has appeared in numerous films and television programs. He had recurring roles on the TV series ''Will & Grace'', ''Hope & Gloria'', ''Strip Mall'', ''According to ...

as Alan Balaban *

Christa Campbell Christa Campbell (born December 7, 1972) is an American actress and producer. Campbell is best known for her roles in '' 2001 Maniacs'', '' Mozart and the Whale'', '' Lonely Hearts'', ''The Wicker Man'', ''Cleaner'', ''Day of the Dead'', '' L ...

as Kato *

Mr. Marcus Mr. Marcus (born September 4, 1970) is the stage name of Jesse Spencer, an American actor and director known for acting in or directing over 1,800 pornographic films. In 2009, he was inducted into the AVN Awards Hall of Fame. Biography Marcu ...

as Jake B. Bigg *

Sammi Hanratty Samantha Hanratty (born September 20, 1995) is an American actress. Her first lead was in 2009, portraying Chrissa Maxwell in '' An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong''. In 2011, she played the role Whitney Brown in the film '' The Greening o ...

as Young Jody Balaban * Donnamarie Recco as Kathleen *

Stormy Daniels Stephanie Gregory Clifford (born March 17, 1979), known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American pornographic film actress and director, and former stripper. She has won numerous industry awards, and is a member of the NightMoves, AVN ...

as a porn starlet *

Garry Marshall Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American filmmaker and actor. He started his career in the 1960s writing for ''The Lucy Show'' and ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play '' The Odd C ...

as Himself *

Ron Jeremy Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American former pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic m ...

as Himself * Zach Cumer as Bobby Daples * Mario Cassem as Morris Goldstein * Dan Taylor as Cute Guy * Julie Davis as Dyan Cannons * G.K. Bowes as Additional voices (uncredited)

Release

The film was released theatrically in the U.S. on June 4, 2010 in New York City and June 11, 2010 in Los Angeles.

Reception

The film was well-received upon its premiere at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival. The film opened the 2009 Gen Art Film Festival in New York.

References

External links

* * * *
''Finding Bliss''
at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

* * {{cite podcast , url = http://creativescreenwritingmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/06/finding-bliss-q.html , title = Finding Bliss Q&A featuring Julie Davis, Christa Campbell, Stormy Daniels and Jamie Kennedy , website = Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcast , host = Jeff Goldsmith , date = 2010-06-17 , accessdate= 2010-06-25 2009 films 2000s English-language films 2009 romantic comedy films Films about pornography Films scored by John Swihart American romantic comedy films 2000s American films