Story of ‘Deep Throat” star misses target
The tragic life of Linda Lovelace, star of “Deep Throat,” is brought to the big screen (and on-demand) in a bio-pic that does not dig deep enough into the woman’s mindset and motivation, and fails to dramatize realistically her descent into pornography and abuse.
“Lovelace” begins with Linda Boreman (Amanda Seyfried), better known by her stage name Linda Lovelace, as a typical American teenager at the end of the 1960’s living with her domineering mother, Dorothy (Sharon Stone), and her mostly passive father, John (Robert Patrick). She is working at a roller skating rink as a go-go dancer when she is charmed and seduced by Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard). He seems to be a good, honest man to take home to the parents which Linda does.
They get married in 1971, but things go rapidly downhill. Chuck insists that she audition for director Gerard Damiano (Hank Azaria) and assistant Butchie Peraino (Bobby Cannavale). Little does she realize she is trying out for the pornographic film “Deep Throat,” which went on to make Linda Lovelace a household name in America. Linda finds out that Chuck is in the pornographic film business and he convinces her that she has to be in the film to pay off their debts.
The first half of the film is reasonably easy to take and has moments of humor. When Damiano and Peraino witness Linda’s infamous talent, they act as if they have struck gold. The second half of the film circles back, retelling the story and exposing the reality of Linda and Chuck’s relationship. Chuck was a physically, emotionally and sexually abusive husband who traumatized and beat his wife into submission.
The problem with the film is that the ugliness always feels safe and palatable. It has a based-on-a-true-story Lifetime movie feel where even the most horrific and disturbing acts of human behavior are just part of a story from the past being re-enacted for the audience’s pleasure. Yes, Linda is shown being beaten, screamed at and even prostituted by her husband, but it all seems like a performance. Perhaps because they lived in the cheap porn world of the 1970’s, a level of artifice is added to the actions, but the horrors should feel more realistic and harrowing than they do.
As in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” recently, “Lovelace” has a cast of stars to play well-known people from the recent past. For example, James Franco plays Playboy creator Hugh Hefner. Can you picture Franco as Hef? I couldn’t either. It was rumored that Franco was originally in talks to play Chuck, and he must have agreed to take this smaller role instead. His scenes, like too many others in the film, ring false.
The film also fails to truly get into Linda’s mind and explain how she went from the girl next door to a mega-star with her name in neon lights, starring in a blockbuster porn film. Seyfried gives a fine performance with the material she is given, but the writer, Andy Bellin, makes Linda such a naive, doll-eyed creature that it is hard to understand how she fell into this life of hell. Before Linda starred in “Deep Throat,” she starred in a film in which she has sex with a dog.