(Lisa is not just watching horror movies!  She is also trying to clean out her DVR!  She has got over 200 movies that she needs to watch before January 1st!  Will she make it?  Keep checking here to find out!  She recorded Open Marriage off of Lifetime on February 4th!)

Sometimes, cleaning out the DVR really does make you feel as if you’ve stepped into a time machine.

Take Open Marriage, for instance.  I recorded this film on February 4th and, as soon as I watched it, I was transported back to those romantic days leading up to Valentine’s Day.  Suddenly, I once again found myself in a time when every other commercial was either for Fifty Shades Darker or Adore Me lingerie.  I was reminded of how, from the beginning of January to the end of March, not a single day went by that I didn’t say to my boyfriend, “You like it too.  Right, babe?”

(If you’ve seen the commercial, you know what I’m talking about.  If not, don’t worry about it.)

Anyway, it’s appropriate that Open Marriage aired in between all of those commercials for Fifty Shades Darker.  Much like the Fifty Shades movies, Open Marriage is one of those films that pretends to be all decadent but which is actually kind of silly.  Ron (Tilky Jones) and Becca (Nikki Leigh) are young, pretty, and married but they’ve got some problems.  Ron recently hurt his back and he’s been out of work for a year.  They’ve got a huge house but they’re struggling financially.  Despite Ron’s big sexy tattoo, there’s no more spark to their marriage.

However, things change when they visit their friends, Mindy (Kelly Dowdle) and Max (Jason Tobias).  Mindy and Max are young, pretty, and married but they don’t spend all of their time fighting.  How is this possible!?  Could it be because they’re rich and have an even bigger house than Ron and Becca?  Or could it be the fact that they have an open marriage?  Ron and Becca may say that they’re skeptical about the whole open marriage thing but they get so turned on by the idea that they have very passionate Lifetime-approved sex right before the first commercial break.

Naturally, all of this leads to the two couples experimenting with each other.  This means going to a secret club and getting a private room in back.  One of the rules is that the two couples always have to be together but, instead, Becca and Max go off on their own.  Ron gets upset and demands an end to all the swinging.  Becca agrees but soon finds herself tempted to return to the club.  The club, by the way, is named Caligula.  I assume that Nero was already taken.

Anyway, I liked Open Marriage because it offered up three of my favorite things: trashy sex, trashy lingerie, and trashy melodrama.  On the one hand, the movie is totally ludicrous and kind of silly.  On the other hand, it’s so totally over the top that it’s impossible not to be amused and entertained by it all.  If nothing else, Open Marriage was better than Fifty Shades Darker so let’s give credit where credit is due.