Shattered Innocence

I saw this on the True Romance channel today and thought it was not bad at all, typical of the Made-for-TV movies of the 80s. Joanna Lee plays the part of Pamela Lee, a porn actress who killed herself at the age of 20 after heavy cocaine addiction with her young life filled with misfortunes. Like many, she came from the rural midwest and was attracted to the bright lights of LA hoping to make it as a legit model only to pose nude and end up in porn. It is really a sad and moving story, well directed and acted. Joanna Lee does an excellent job of portraying this poor young girl. Ms. Lee made only a few pictures

I agree with the comments above about this film. Despite the flat TV movie style presentaion, "Shattered Innocence" kept my attention until the tragic conclusion. What I liked about the movie's approach was that it did not condem the obvious culprit, the porn industry, for the downfall and demise of Pauleen Anderson. Pauleen chose to enter the adult film world and succumbed to cocaine addiction and ultimately faced the horrible consequences. TV movies have a lack of fluidity of camerawork and lack of showmanship as is the case with "Shattered Innocence". In the light of porn-glamourizing films such as "Boogie Nights", this tepidness accentuates the intent of "Shattered Innocence". In "Shattered Innocence" entry, escape from and re-entry into the porn business leads to tragic, lonely, and hurtful existence. I suspect the downfall of Pauleen Anderson is much closer to what happens to real-life porn actors than the glamourous lives of the characters in "Boogie Nights" (which by the way, ended with a bizzare, 'happy' conclusion for all).

This is a movie that could have been tawdry and exploitative, and indeed, I recall reading that the parents of Colleen Applegate (whose life this is loosely based on) were displeased with it, saying it made the pornographers look like they were just running a business and Colleen got into trouble on her own. It's not quite that simple in the movie.

The acting is good all around. Jonna Lee is convincing in all three wildly different stages of the Colleen character's (here she's called Pauleen) story: naive virgin, confident nude model, and decimated, has-been, weary porn star. Her hysterical, desperate tirade at the end is particularly noteworthy; despite the many stupid decisions she's made, in the end, you feel for her. She was really just a kid, after all.

I keep coming back to this film, some 17 years after I first saw it, for the script, the cast, the acting and even the background music. This Lorimar TV flick must have been ahead of its time in 1988, as the story of 17-year-old Pauleen Anderson, who, wanting to grow up faster than she knows how, leaves home and becomes in turn a centerfold, a porn star, a cocaine abuser and finally a suicide when things go wrong. I think the producers and writers try to take aim at the pornography industry for the sleazy business it is, but this girl's impatience with life and desire to "have it all" the fast and easy way seem just as much to blame for what happened to her. Jonna Lee is convincing in every way as a natural beauty who is not mature enough to handle what she's gotten herself into. Melinda Dillon is memorable as the disapproving mother who understands neither her daughter's restlessness nor how the high-paying porno business would prove as addictive as cocaine to a young girl with nothing to sell but her looks. John Pleshette is also good as the older man who's finally found the centerfold girlfriend he's wanted all his life, only to lose her to his own tragic flaw - being a cocaine dealer headed for prison. No matter how many times I see this film I'm moved by the way it unfolds relentlessly toward its inevitable tragic end. Even the touching opening and closing theme music strikes home. Knowing that this fictionalized account mirrors the life and death of real-life porn star Colleen Applegate only makes it more compelling.

This CBS-TV movie begins like most others in the good-girl-goes-bad vein, but it quickly becomes apparent that "Shattered Innocence" is well-made, well-acted and written--it catches you off-guard. The young woman whose innocence is shattered is based on real-life '80s porn-star Shauna Grant. Scenes such as the one where "Lara Dawn" goes back home to Kansas for Christmas, proudly showing off a scrapbook of nude photos to her family and then getting rebuffed by her appalled mother, are both tender and sad, and the young woman's fight to reclaim her life at the finale is quite moving. The film doesn't have the theatrical style of something like "Star 80", but it's thoughtful and touching in its own way thanks in large part to a solid cast and to Sandor Stern's tight direction and script, co-written with Thanet Richard. A nice surprise. *** from ****