Public Affairs (1983)
*** (out of 4)
Congressman Nicholas Stern (Paul Thomas) is planning on getting to the Senate by closing the various porn theaters on 42nd Street. He is going after the female vote but reporter Elvira Lawrence (Annette Haven) sets out to prove that he's a no good hypocrite.
Henri Pachard's PUBLIC AFFAIRS is often considered one of the better hardcore pictures out there and it's easy to see why with its nice cast, good direction and of course a story that actually works. They say the best hardcore pictures manage to work even if there wasn't any sex and that's probably true, although I doubt anyone is going to be afraid of what sex is on display.
The story here is actually quite simple but there's certainly a message behind it. Porn has always been attacked and yet I'm sure many of the people attacking it either use it or perhaps are even worse than whatever ideas they have about hardcore movies. That's pretty much the story here, which is to call out hypocrites who attack the genre but do much worse themselves.
The cast is certainly terrific with both Haven and Thomas doing an excellent job in their roles and the supporting cast includes the likes of Robert Kerman, Kelly Nichols and Annette Heinz.
