King Cobra

The strange but true story of Porn legend Brent Corrigan is told in this well made drama from director Justin Kelly ('I am Michael'). Sean Paul Lockhart took on the name of Brent Corrigan as a 'porn name' when he dipped his toe in the world of smut. He was taken under the, very keen, wing of Stephen played by Christian Slater in a well executed performance. He was a talented man who had a liking for young lads and the moment he saw Sean he was smitten. He also had a canny head for business and stood by the rule of not mixing the two together.

We also have the back stories and the story of a rival firm where the star was not making the kind of money that Stephen was and how the envy turned into, what some would cal 'affirmative action'. Those that know the story will not be surprised, I did not and must say this was compelling and gripping in equal measure.

The acting is all first rate with some well observed period detail but this is the very 'near past' so not too much effort really needed. The action – if one can call it that - is all simulated and mostly not seen so nothing to put one off ones dinner. The real strength is the story and the performances and they are all more than up to the task. This is a film with gay interest but it is predominantly a thriller and on that scale it scores both highly and readily – hence easy to recommended.

Not sure what to make of this, though I will immediately say that I have never seen so much sex and nudity without actually seeing much of anything. Quite the feat given it's a film about the pornographic industry, sort of like a poor man's Boogie Nights. I had no idea this was based upon a true story, more or less, before watching it and thus was more than a little startled at a sudden and unexpected event. My little sit down to watch a film about the porn industry turned into a real life murder mystery, though there wasn't much mystery to it. There's no denying it is an interesting watch, like it or not, and I'm not sure, as I implied earlier, if I did or didn't. There are some well known names in this film, so it's clear that the intentions here were to make a quality product. In some ways they have, but it's a distasteful subject matter hard to overcome. The multi-talented James Franco is here in yet another gay role. I kind of like his sexual ambiguity, but this is not one of his better performances, though some of it does ring true. The real performance of interest comes from Christian Slater as a porn producer, as is Franco, and he gives a really accurate portrayal as a guy a bit slimy, sleazy, lustful, yet somehow underneath all of that, perhaps not such a terrible person after all. Alicia Silverstone has a small role, but she is delightful and beautiful. At the center of this are two young hot men, one on his way to gay porn fame, the other with some creds already and the entire plot is wrapped these two. They are played by the hotties, Garrett Clayton in the film's central role and Keegan Allen as his competition in this sordid world. Both are a mixed bag, particularly Clayton. He rings true for the first third or so, but when the heavy dramatics turn up, he's not quite up to the task though he does have the film's closing scene and it's a good one. To be fair, he also has the film's most complex character. Sweet and likeable at first and then something slowly quite different. My guess is most will find it either interesting such as myself or awful due to the subject matter and nudity, though with no revealing parts exposed as this is uptight America regarding male nudity. It was cheaply made and it shows, but like it or not, it is not an ineffective film. Some cool music too.

KING COBRA is a fast-paced movie tracing the real-life events in the life of Brent Corrigan, a gay porn actor who was illegally performing under age, and who got all tied up in a murder mystery story. I got into this movie naïvely, not actually knowing anything about the history of the true events, not even knowing that James Franco and Christian Slater were involved!— and I was pleasantly surprised.

As to be expected given the premise, there is a lot of male nudity... All throughout the movie exudes a sense of hedonism—one gets the impression that the whole cast had a lot of fun making this little movie. The acting is really good throughout and the main actor, Garrett Clayton, does a good job as appearing "twinky" while also being believably serious when it is called for. James Franco's character is quite reminiscent of his role in SPRING KILLERS.

The real life story of what actually happened surrounding Brent Corrigan is truly compelling, which makes for a good plot. The progression of the story is well executed, but perhaps the ending was a little abrupt. All in all a fun movie. So, go and watch KING COBRA—it's not a masterpiece, but certainly a great little diversion, with a few genuine suspense moments.

Could've been a good film based on a true story but a poor script and weak acting ruined it. Cute guys kept me going but that was about it. Best bits were in the trailer.

When I looked at the cast, honestly I wasn't sure what to expect.

To my great surprise the cast delivered big time. I was very impressed with Slater, Franco and Ringwald (I wish she had more screen time). There have been numerous movies about women in porn so for me it was 'nice' (not really the word) to spend time on the other side of the fence, learning that the issues many women face in the industry are mirrored by men in gay porn as well.

As for being a representation of the truth, after a little reading, I feel it stayed close enough, but with additions and omissions that is pretty normal for a 'based on' movie.

I do believe its worth a look (particularly for the performances) but it won't be for everyone.