Confessions of a Porn Addict
Director: Duncan Christie
Stars: Spencer Rice
Classification: STC
Rating: ***

For young men today, porn is as prevalent and accessible as sports once was for previous generations, and it’s amusing — in a dark, clammy kind of way — to see how some of them have taken to porn appreciation with an enthusiasm and an eye for trivia and even connoisseurship that remains a hallmark of the male character.

This is the world of Confessions of a Porn Addict, a new film starring Spencer Rice in a dialed-down variation on the hangdog character he plays on the Showcase “reality” show Kenny Vs. Spenny. Rice plays Mark, recently divorced thanks to his all-consuming porn obsession, which has become both consolation and torment as he longs for a second chance with his ex.

Filmed in the ever-popular “mock doc” style, the film follows Mark as he leaves Toronto for the porn industry’s ground zero, in a quest for reconciliation with the wife who he’s discovered has become the latest starlet in the stable of his favorite porn producer.

He’s followed by his filmmaking buddy (director Duncan Christie) and his crew, and Mark Breslin as his 12-step sponsor, a man who reveals that he hasn’t had an orgasm in a decade.

It’s a shambling story, alternating between deadpan comedy and cringeworthy spectacle. Rice almost reluctantly holds the centre of the story down, but it’s Breslin who quietly steals the show with his portrayal of a man who long ago absorbed the tragedy of his life and has moved past it, to a dispirited place few of us would ever want to visit.