"California Gold" (2000) is a laid-back cross between the "California outdoor" and 18-to-21 approach to porn. Mixing these genres is not an easy thing to pull off, but director Richard Morgan has an awful lot of experience matching twinks and post-twinks in a wide variety of sexual situations. Given the lack of screen experience by the majority of the cast, this turns out to be an exciting foray into the sexual wilderness. There is an abundance of genuine pleasure on display, a good deal of one-on-one tenderness, and without exception a fine collection of huge cocks, three of which are wide enough to stand on their own among the redwoods of the California forest in which the action takes place.
Christian Owen is the star, the narrator, and one of the cover boys (the one on the right). Recently transplanted from New Hampshire, he's small, thin (but not emaciated), sun-bleached blond, and looks a day or two beyond his eighteenth birthday -- one of those somewhat toothy guys with permanent rosy cheeks who will probably never age. One thing that he has that's not twinkish, however, is a monster cock which throws off gobs of juice when he reaches a climax, which he does three times in this video with three completely different "types" of partners. He's a sexual dynamo with a very relaxed approach to sex -- very little noise, almost playful.
He tells the tale of how he and his friends discovered the California great outdoors, beginning with an introduction of his box cover partner, Lee Walbash. Described as bisexual -- very blond, gymnast type -- he is a hot number in search of his identity. He opens the film on his motorcycle, drives it to a mountain ledge, takes a piss, whacks off, cums and drives off. The camera lingers lovingly over his face and body, and spends a lot of time admiring his long, interesting cock, which bends sharply downward from the middle and spurts enough juice over his chest and cycle, but not enough to substitute for the gas he needs to get home.
Christian's next tale is about himself and his pal, Jasper. They are "just friends" who decided to bicycle through part of the big park. Jasper is obviously in the midst of losing his baby look and body -- a crew-cut rusty redhead with an open face and a body, which if toned enough, would qualify him as a split-end on a football team. The boys park under a couple of trees and chat, and then they decide to put some suntan lotion on each other. One rub leads to another, and in a sensuous segue of tentative exploring to kissing to cock massaging. Then Jasper drops to his knees, what he finds is an extra-long cock which looks almost out of place on Christian's small body. But that doesn't stop Jasper from a sustained deep-throat attempt, which he succeeds at carrying off despite the size of the object of his affection.
Christian has to return the favor, but what he finds between Jasper's legs is something else: a good-sized cock which has to be almost as wide as Christian's jawbone. This is the fattest piece of meat I've ever seen on a post-twink anywhere, and Christian is simply overwhelmed by it. But he's a trooper, though, and he tries anyway, mostly plunging down on it in various on-his-knees and 69 positions. Nice shots of him trying to swallow this monster punctuate this all-oral scene during which Jasper has a solid go at Christian's man-sized meat as well. Try though he may, Christian can only meet him halfway, but they still give a tender display of gay young friends having their first, and perhaps only, fling with each other, just to say they've been with each other to their other friends. Though the publicity gives Christian a lot of credit for his forceful cum-shots, it is Jasper who impresses here with a similar burst of seminal enthusiasm. Both splatter the other's face, neck and upper torso with enough sticky stuff to keep the sunrays at bay for a month.
The next tale involves the most energetic scene in the movie. Clint Fox and Tommy Saxx are walking through the park on a bird-watching expedition, shirtless, in walking shorts, hiking boots, backpacks and binoculars slung over their necks, they chat amiably as they walk, and you just know something will explode. Clint is a tight bodied, crew-cut swimmer type with an infectious gleam in his narrow-set eyes. Tommy has obviously dropped a few pounds for this role, is nicely toned, and moves with a swagger, which is full of sexual anticipation. Both have piercing blue eyes, and Tommy's jump right off the screen at virtually every shot of his face. They move to a log, chat about birds, and then start to kiss. This is a romantic, but also furtive scene, shorter than all the rest in the movie, but far more explicit in every detail. They kiss. They nuzzle. They reach into each other's crotches. Clint pulls Tommy down to the ground, which is conveniently prepared for them with a blanket, unzips Tommy's shorts and goes down on his cock in a flash, and here again, like Jasper's, it's a monumental mini-Sequoia. But unlike Christian, Clint knows how to deal with something like this (he had a shot at the big salamis of Chad Johnson and Peter Racek in "Man Academy," Centaur). He licks and cajoles it, tries a swallow or two, but then gives in to Tommy's hunger for his cock. Tommy has less of a challenge before him, but Clint is still one well-hung young man. Tommy licks, deep-throats and gobbles, he eats Clint's balls, and generally engages in a cock pig-out. This brings the animal out of Clint, and he pushes Tommy up against a rock and proceeds to give his cock a much better workout, and even gets almost down the pole once or twice. Then he spreads Tommy out on the blanket, lifts his legs, and plunges his mouth into Tommy's pucker. There is a great shot of his tongue darting out of his mouth straight up Tommy's hole, he fucks Tommy with his tongue and then his cock makes its way up the chute as well. This is a solid, energetic fucking. The camera catches Clint's buttcheeks in rhythmic flapping as he pounds Tommy missionary, and the camera catches a great shot of Tommy's face in surprised pleasure. Then it's Tommy's turn at Clint's ass and he slowly but forcefully moves right in and up as Clint moans in delight. It's a quick missionary-fuck finished off with a sideway-cowboy-straddle, with Clint throwing streams of cum into the air, over his body and face, while Tommy spills his seed from between Clint's legs onto his cock and balls. These guys look like really enjoyed each other.
Christian is back again, this time with John Roberts, who is an almost identical clone of Christian except with an orange bleach tinge to his brown hair. John and Christian are dog-sitting and take the pooch to the forest where they start to get to know each other better. He looks far younger and thinner than Christian, so this scene comes off as something of a bonanza for those who are into "Original Recipe" chicken. It's romantic at first, the guys make love on a blanket under the trees, then gets energetic as they suck cock. John is also exceptionally well-hung for his size, and Christian has a good time with this substitute luncheon. Following the obligatory 69, Christian sends his pole up John's skinny little ass with great vigor, they are butt-to-butt for this fuck, and it's shot from overhead so you can see the long red pole on the pale pink body of Christian jutting into the tanned-lined ass of John's thin body.
All-American type Chris Masters is driving his red SUV through the park when it overheats. He runs across the exotic mono-named Eli, who is fixing some contraption in the woods, dressed in coveralls and nothing else. Chris is without question the most conventionally handsome guy in this flick, though he bears a fleeting resemblance to Clint Fox, he reminds me of a younger, more polished, Anthony Wilcox. It's a shame his scene with Eli is so short, and somewhat perfunctory, we need to see more of this young man. There's a moment when Eli is standing next to the vehicle when Chris begins to roll his eyes up and down the younger man's body, we cut to a few quick reciprocal blowjobs and then Chris predictably porking Eli missionary-style, first on the ground, then through the hatchback. They cum, get into the truck naked, and drive off.
However, the next two encounters make up for the somewhat brief Chris-Eli pairing. First, Christian is back, this time tooling through the hills in a sedan, when he runs out of gas. Down the road comes Lee Walbash on his baptized-in-cum motorcycle, passes right by Christian, then doubles back and takes him home where he conveniently has a can of gasoline. They go into the backyard and sit next to the Jacuzzi, where they start discussing their sexuality. Lee allows that he is somewhat torn about being straight or gay, but if all guys looked like Christian, he wouldn't have any problem making a decision. That's all that's needed for the beginnings of what is really a romantic exploration of bodies and cocks. They kiss, lick and undress each other, and Christian goes down first on Lee. It's a languid, adoring, but not overly enthusiastic blowjob, more of the kind of "I'll make you like it but won't force you," than "take this, buddy, and you'll make up your mind fast." For his part, Lee turns out to be a tentative eater at first, and then as they switch to a variety of 69 positions, and continue kissing, he becomes much more accomplished at polishing the pole. Then they stroke each other into mutual cum-showers before hopping into the Jacuzzi to clean up and kiss off. This is a nice little sexual wake-up call for Lee, and the director handles it gracefully.
One would have expected this to be the last scene, but instead we have a return of Clint Fox (which is always wildly appreciated) and John Roberts. They are joined by Jason Nichols, who apparently is a gymnast (and looks it). Jason is a wide-faced, grinning farmboy type with an infectious sexual presence that could lead him to a wide variety of roles (this young man has real potential). This is a planned sex party, with Jason and Clint driving in one car, fondling each other's cocks on the way up to their rendezvous with John. Both Jason and Clint perform a couple of gymnastic moves naked under the trees, it's a treat to watch these guys flip themselves into the air with amazing hardons flapping away. The sex is pretty hot, all three soak up cock with their tongues and throats, both John and Clint serve as enthusiastic bottoms for Jason, and Clint gets his time up John's tiny chute as well. Even though there are a lot of quick edits here, it's a surprisingly effective ending for a film blatantly dedicated to the California "open encounter"-style of youthful sexual gratification pioneered in the 1980s by William Higgins. It carries on that tradition "way cool."
DVD features: Chapters; director's commentary; gallery; deleted scenes; trailers; behind-the-scenes footage; and no regional coding (playable worldwide).
A DVD Review by Bo Champion
