Meet Monica Velour

So what happens to the sexual acrobats from porn's so-called Golden Age, the 70's and early 80's? Like Marilyn Chambers, Linda Lovelace, Tracy Lords? In an inspired bit of casting, Kim Cattrall, is playing Monica Velour, who was a former centerfold and star of porn classics such as "Saturday Night Beaver" and "Frankenbooty" (the titles and cover art of her porn filmography is rather hilarious) but is now trying to get gigs stripping in decrepit titty bars in rural Indiana, where she lives in a trailer. Kim would strike it big as the perpetually horny Samantha in "Sex and the City" although men of a certain age will best remember her as a hot gym teacher in "Porky's" nicknamed "Lassie" because she loved to have sex in the gym laundry room where the smell of stinky jockstraps while engaging in coitus would eventually get her howling.

Tobe, a way too typical nerdish 17 yr old drives to IN to meet his favorite porn star, although one wonders how in the world he would have discovered her. Not much happens in this, there's a sub-plot about Monica wanting to get custody of her young daughter and of course Tobe ends up losing his virginity to Monica, not a bad way to start, even if Monica Velour is a bit overweight, jaded and quite disheveled by this point in life. Could have been better if they hadn't gone too far over the top with Tobe's character, copying "Napoleon Dynamite" Kim Cattrall turns in a great performance.

Kim Cattrall flexes her acting muscles in a whole new direction with much success in this surprisingly original film expertly written and directed by Keith Bearden. Dustin Ingram is the ideal combination of nerd and charm as Tobe Holbert, while Brian Dennehy is fun as Tobe's father (aka "Pop Pop"). Keith David provides a breath of fresh air from all the quirkiness as Claude, an amiable and wise character. I saw this at an opening in Chicago which was attended by Dustin Ingram and included a Skyped interview with Keith Bearden post-showing. I was delighted to find that Bearden is just as much of a cool character in real life as the ones he created for the screen, while Ingram maintains a genuine sweetness and vulnerability. Meet Monica Velour is definitely a well spent 98 minutes.

Wow, who knew? "Meet Monica Velour" turned out to be a rather unique and charming comedy unlike most other teenage comedies. And while it may not be the type of comedy that will have you laughing your heart out, it is the type of movie that sinks right into the heart and sticks with you.

The story is about 17 year old Tobe Hobert (played by Dustin Ingram), an awkward teenager who travels across USA in an old hot dog vendor van to see a rare performance by Monica Velour (played by Kim Cattrall), his favorite porn star from the 1980s. An odd friendship blossoms between the smitten teenager and the struggling former porn actress.

It is the odd and unique storyline that makes "Meet Monica Velour" such an enjoyable movie, and the permeated sense of real life as well. But also the amazing performances by Dustin Ingram and Kim Cattrall.

"Meet Monica Velour" was really a surprise of a movie, and I was genuinely entertained by the story and performances.

If you haven't seen this fabulous movie, then you should really take yourself an hour and a half to watch "Meet Monica Velour". This movie scores a rock-solid seven out of ten stars from me.

Although some of my colleagues were a bit shocked by the subject matter I was extremely satisfied with this dark comedy film with feeling. It was truthful yet entertaining (mostly due to the Cast & heartfelt writing). Dustin being a newcomer allowed me to believe this was a real boy struggling with the issues of growing up under his slightly unusual circumstances. Kim Cattrall was wonderful and her chemistry with Dustin was unbelievable! I would love to know if she and he were long time friends and she had something to do with choosing him as Tobe. Brian Dennehy was strong yet short lived in this film. I believe there could've been an entire movie in itself based on POP-POP and TOBE'S relationship and home life. (Maybe an HBO Series). Ha! I'm very excited that Kim has shed the "Sex In The City" suit for a more "real" dark character and with a new star on its way in the form of Dustin Ingram, this movie will be a long lived tribute to his start (although he has plenty of younger Disney & Nickelodeon credits). I highly recommend going and seeing it in April 2011 when ANCHOR BAY is supposed to release it nation wide! And don't let the taboo of the word "Porn Star" keep you from enjoying a delightful movie about young love and maturing in a current world of motherless and fatherless households with our children being raised by the media. Please support this work of art written and directed by Kieth Bearden.

So here i am wandering through my local video store looking for something good to watch and i stumble across Meet Monica Velour, judging from the cover and the description on the back i was expecting the usual silly sex comedy, boy was i wrong.

Meet Monica Velour is exceptional, at times hilarious, at times awkward, at times heartbreaking. And it is all thanks to a fearless performance from Kim Cattrall, she is just down right amazing as this extremely damaged character. Never have i seen her better, she is as much this character as she is Samantha from SATC. The fact that she can immortalize a character such as Samantha and then do something completely different like this is the making of a truly great actress, and also a shamefully under-rated one.

The story is wonderful, the super nerd of a small town finally gets the chance to meet his favourite porn star only to realize that her life is very different than what he imagined it would be, cue a friendship like no other i've seen in film. After i realized that this movie was totally different than what i thought it was going to be i then had the though "oh this is going to be a sappy feel good story", wrong again, this is a totally original story that doesn't have a scrap of cliché at all.

I hope this movie finds a wide audience, its so deserving, Kim Cattrall needs to be in more great movies like this...... She's so great to watch.

See it, you'll love it....... ;)