Falling Short of Greatness

A sharp, tight body can help
 Miss April go a long way.

So far this Playmate calendar year, we've been searching for the first true contender for Playmate of the Year. It's been a rough one, with girls like Ashley Mattingly simply not being good looking enough, and the top contender, Kylie Johnson, just not having the complete package it takes to be really great.

Here in April, we're presented with by far the most promising candidate, Jaclyn Swedberg, Miss April 2011. Jaclyn has a background in Playboy that's more extensive than most, with appearances on numerous Playboy TV shows and other features. In them, she exudes the persona of the resident 'badass,' with leather and motorcycles being her primary M.O.

She carries that over into her Playmate appearance. Jaclyn hammers it home with a consistent theme to her pictorial, but doesn't quite put it all together into something that truly complements her appearance. On the surface, Jaclyn is a gorgeous girl. She's wholesome, and fits the girl-next-door experience quite well. With a very attractive, youthful, face, Jaclyn draws in the audience. That's what really sells her style, since the pictorial doesn't go into enough depth, as I'll discuss later. Instead, she relies on some sexy stares, combined with a slim, sleek silhouette to pull her through.

Jaclyn almost has the entire package. She's very warm and inviting, and alternates this with a sharp sense of sexuality that sells her leather and biker image. The sheer depth of her facial features and the color of her body are just breathtaking. While not so toned and curvaceous as the modern Playmate, she has a lanky, tall build that really is beautiful to look at. All in all, she is awesomely photogenic, and has plenty of talent to tie it all in.

All that said, Jaclyn falls just short of greatness. This is due to the fact that her pictorial just never seems complete, with Jaclyn being unbelievably bashful about showing her genitals, which is too bad, since some long distance shots in her video show off a cute set of lips in glancing shots. It's not just this fact, but also that the pictorial never gives the audience a look at the subtleties that really characterize a beauty like Jaclyn's. She can just be low-key and clothed, and still exude a sense of poise. That's amiss in her material, and this is a plain shame.

• Face: A
  Easily the best face in a year full of awkward mugs, Jaclyn is just gorgeous to admire. Her piercing eyes and beautifully shaped jawline are extremely picturesque, and those lucious locks of soft hair just flow in every photo. She can overdo those pouty lips at times, but they can also do wonders in close-ups.
• Body: A- Jaclyn isn't as busty and curvy as most Playmates of the modern era, but her slim waist and great length in a slinky, cute package make her irresistible. Her body is just incredibly photogenic, and it almost looks as though she was destined to pose in the nude. Just a pleasure to look at.
• Talent: A-
  With a quick glance with those amazing eyes, or a flip of the legs into the air, her slender body combined with an irresistibly charming persona make her a talented girl. She knows how to use every ounce of her sex appeal.
• Pictorial: B
  Although the production value is great and the photographer hits all the right angles, it seems as though there is quite a bit still missing. The motorbike theme doesn't quite suit Jaclyn as well as one would hope. She seems like a more wholesome girl who could be better suited to a subtle home theme. More importantly, the pictures are not in the least bit revealing, and may be a bit too softcore for Playboy in the modern era.
• Centerfold: B
  It is definitely a beautiful photo, but leaves a lot to be desired. It also suffers from rampant overproduction, as with most centerfolds. Jaclyn's beauty is in its depth and color, and both are ruined here.
• Overall: B+
  Jaclyn, at first glance, has it all together. She is a gorgeous woman with subtle and intricate beauty that one can spend a long time observing. She isn't a simple girl, and there is a lot to her posing style, which makes her an excellent pick for Playmate. She is, by far, the best girl of the year so far, and a true contender for Playmate of the Year. However, she still did not deliver as much as she could have, and you all know how much PlayboyCritic values material. The pictorial was not complete, as much as her Jukebox videos were (which really did a good job of showing the girl-next-door bubbly side to her, which I wish was emphasized more in her pictorial). She really has it in her, which makes her a stunning model; but there's just something that keeps her from being truly great, and that's a shame.