Rated X

I just finished the QC of Rated X for the up coming DVD. I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The acting was impressive, and the story of the Mitchell Brothers kept my interest. The greatest praise I could give this film; after viewing it I wanted to learn more about the facts behind the Brothers story. This movie is worth a look, unless the subject matter would offend.

Maybe I'm rating this movie a little bit higher than I should. But there were some good moments for me in this film. I have no problem with Charlie Sheen or Emilio Estevez, they have both done some good stuff in their careers (and a few good movies too). Not to mention Denise Richards! Anyway, I just wonder if Tracy Hutson regrets playing Marylin Chambers in this film and doing a nude/sex scene. Seeing as how she is now on the squeaky clean ABC show "Extreme Home Makeovers". She is incredibly hot and I love to see her on the Home Makeover show, especially when I happened to remember that she was naked in "Rated X". I think this film is entertaining. Of course it is not even in the same league as "Boogie Nights", not even close...but if you are a porno movie fan, you might enjoy this story of a couple of the pioneers of the genre. If nothing else you will enjoy Tracy Hutson's awesome body. Which we may never seen in a film again. Too bad.

Emilio Estavez directed this, but one wonders why. It doesn't take a genius to realize that a movie about two porn movie directors is not going to win any Academy Awards. What was Emilio thinking? You can play it as tragedy. You certainly can't make heroes of these guys. I guess what he was thinking was this was a part of America from the sixties to the nineties in the twentieth century--this was the reality and let's tell the truth. but somebody else might say, why bother? Most critics and viewers would call this a prize turkey, but...but is there some redeeming social value? Charlie Sheen and Estavez star as the brothers Mitchell, two entrepreneurial guys who stumble from the free love scene of the sixties in San Francisco to the cash cow of the first widely distributed porn movies, including the infamous "Behind the Green Door." Maybe there is a kind of free speech angle here, with the porno boys fighting the good fight against censorship and Big Brother. On the other hand, there is a didactic tale here about how success corrupts and how sex, drugs and rock and roll--forget the rock and roll; this is almost pure sex and drugs--how sex and drugs may lead you to make a movie called "Sodom and Gomorrah" which may suggest that you ought to be starring it in.

Charlie Sheen is very good and so is Estavez. His direction is also not bad. The movie moves right along and the degeneration of the brothers is well expressed. Megan Ward had a chance in a supporting role here, but she failed miserably, possibly because how could she feel any connection with a role that made her the quasi-tolerant, quasi-suffering wife of a man who makes his living pandering to lust (and indulging his own) while smoking, drinking and snorting anything he can get his hands on? Not pretty. However, I wouldn't be surprised if someday in the distant future, long after I am gone, that in some social science class at say Cal Berkeley this movie is played as augmenting an anthropological study of a certain segment of our population in the later part of the 20th century. The students can see this as a film documenting the moral corruption of a nation following Vietnam and the Nixon administration, perhaps even anticipating the moral corruption we see today.

But I would advise you to skip this unless you are a big Emilio Estavez fan, in which case this is a must see, or if you are a Charlie Sheen fan, and then it is worth seeing because this is one of his better performances, and you've got to see these guys in their bald domes and their side burns and authentic seventies attire. To be honest, I've seen people win Academy Awards who weren't half as good as Sheen was. Naturally this won nothing.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

Harrowing is the word that comes to mind when trying to describe this movie. A fascinating look at two brothers, raised by a man who could have take parenting lessons from The Great Santini and being thrust into the world of 1970s porn and drugs. Yes, the porn angle of the story is very fascinating and is probably the reason most will see this movie, but I found it to be a riveting look at the older brother - younger brother relationship in the case of two men who led very enmeshed lives. Jim (the older brother) was always taught to take care of younger brother Artie and he did that all of his life, even kicking drugs on his own to show Artie that it could be done. Artie, meanwhile spirals down deeper into addiction and sexual excess and uses Jim's continued smoking as an excuse not to get straightened out. The ending scenes are very sudden and surprising, as they must have been when they really happened, but was this Jim's one last attempt to take care of Artie when nothing else seemed to work? This movie uses the not uncommon now technique of odd camera angles and color to put the viewer into the disoriented mindset of a person on drugs and perhaps on the edge mentally and emotionally. It was really showcased well in "Natural Born Killers" and has kind of been done already to death. But it does serve the story here. Recommended, and as a chaser after this downer of a movie, rent "Babe".

Going into the theatre, I had mixed expectations. This is, after all, a movie about the porn industry. It could be very graphic, shallow, poorly lit. It most certainly would have a nauseating soundtrack. The tickets were free and it was the premiere event, so the food would be good-- and I went. I was thoroughly amazed to see a very creatively produced film, whose formal perks were as interesting as its content. I was entertained by and sympathetic toward the characters, who were multi-dimensional and intense. Mostly, I was impressed by the film's visual aesthetics-- I'm not referring to the sex scenes here, though there was ample representation of that action-- I'm talking about the piecing together of a beautifully shot film. But besides that, the soundtrack was refreshingly hip and the actors gave excellent performances. This is a Showtime feature that has exceeded its medium's limitations,producing a movie that is given more justice in the theatres than where it will deign to be exhibited- on TV.