This Girl's Life

In fact, "This Girl's Life" seems to be two movies: first, it works over the relationships of internet pornstar Moon and the world around her - this part is truly great, with very well-constructed characters (specially Moon herself and her ill father, played by James Woods) and cleverly avoiding making judgements about anything; the second, which comes up on the final third of the movie, is clearly weaker, more moralist and somehow desconstructing the characters so wonderfully built on the first part.

All in all, a movie that deserves to be seen... but it's just a shame that the end isn't just a bit less "common"...

I rented this film initial because I heard that this film handled the adult film industry as it exists, stripping away the fantasy and negative exploitative stigma that many previous films portrayed. I also heard James Woods gave a great performance in this film not to mention the thought that I may get to see some very attractive eye candy. And in all accounts I was right. James Woods does a knock out job in this movie and yes you get to see some very attractive naked girls. Not to mention a male full Monty scene that really goes all the way. I know it sounds like a cheesy two bit soft core film, but the story moves fast and the portrayal of a porn star is shown with insight and strength. The film is really about finding yourself and personal growth. The film did a great job of acknowledging its subject and dealt with it as it is; a business. The lead actress was also very strong, which is unusual for a film like this. The nudity may be sexual in nature but isn't really meant to be erotic. The nudity is used to add to the story and is never used unless it has a purpose. Where many films have attempted this, this movie that no one has seen or heard of, did a great job with handling this subject. Well written and interesting, 4 Stars! If you really want to see a good film that deals with the adult industry as it exists, I highly recommend this film.

I liked that the movie was kept real. In other words it wasn't turned Hollywood. Some of those watching with me said it was boring in parts. I didn't think so. I said, "We are watching her life. Is your life exciting 24/7? No, it isn't." Then they changed their minds because they viewed the movie differently than say an action flick. I thought this was one of James Woods best performances. We all found it sad that it was a piece in a smaller film that most won't get to see. He did an excellent job of playing someone with Parkinson's. In the middle of the movie I went online to see if it mentioned anywhere his actually having Parkinson's because I thought he was that good. That's the difference between a good actor and a great actor.

This Girl's Life is the story of a not so average porn star and her not so average life. She makes it known right off the bat that she has not been abused by her father, uncle or priest and she is not on drugs or any of the other things you hear about your average porn star. In fact, she seems to be a very well adjusted young woman who has about 99% of her priorities in line. This is the story of Moon, played by a positively ravishing Juliette Marquis.

Moon's mother died in a car accident when she was young and takes care of her father who has Parkinson's Disease and is willing to drop anything she is doing if he needs her. She even meets a guy that seems to suit her on a blind date while she struggles with wondering whether or not he was told what she does for a living and if that is in fact, the reason he is there. He turns out to be a decent guy and it seems Moon has everything going in the right direction for her. She just happens to be a porn star.

There are hardly any negative characters in this movie. For the most part, everyone gets along and is likable to the viewer. The character development could have been a bit better. I knew who everyone was but did not know most of the names. Maybe I should pay closer attention but I had to figure out most of the character names from this site. Moon shows no attitude of being a successful porn star and even her boss, Aronson (played by Tomas Arana) was a likable guy. Later in the movie, a friend of Moon's asks her to hit on her boyfriend to see if he would cheat on her if given the opportunity and you get a few unlikeable characters once this happens (good job by Michael Rapaport). This is also where the movie takes a bit of a darker turn, but nothing huge.

Juliette Marquis is a very good actress who has the looks and talent to become the next big thing in Hollywood. I believe she just needs her "big break". I truly hope to see big things come of her.

James Woods was Pops, the Parkison's ridden father, who played that part to a tee. I compare his performance here to Edward Norton's in The Score. Woods proves he is an incredible actor.

All in all, I could give this movie pretty high recommendations. The ending was a bit anti-climatic and I was a little let down by it, but the rest of the movie makes up for it. This is the first movie I have seen by director, Ash, and I will make it a point to see more of his movies. 8/10

After the success of the inexpensively made trade movie "Boogie Nights," one might expect a series of even cheaper and less skillful ripoffs. The usual trajectory for ripoffs would be more sex and less character.

I suppose in some ways, we wouldn't have "This Girl's Life" if we hadn't had "Boogie Nights," but this film is actually pretty good. If the earlier film was mostly an ensemble effort, this one depends on Juliette Marquis. We see things almost exclusively from her point of view. She's a porn star with a heart of gold and some brains. It sounds like a cliché, but she pulls it off okay. She's not exactly beautiful but she is sexy and exotic and has a nasal voice that sometimes drops into the lower register.

But Marquis gets surprisingly good support from such mainstream players as Rosario Dawson, and adequate support from Cheyenne Silver, a genuine star of sex films who has a fresh-faced attractiveness that suggests she grew up on a farm and fed on nothing but cream and ripe strawberries. Anyone who wants to see what she looks like all over can easily have his curiosity satisfied with a bit of effort.

James Woods is super as Pops, Marquis' father who is stricken with Parksinson's disease. He's a courageous actor, wandering around in public with what seems to be an enormous head and a shrunken flabby body. The only investment of ego on display is his talent.

If "Boogie Nights" showed us that the sex movie industry of the 1970s was like a family, "This Girl's Life" demonstrates that the family is not entirely functional these days. The head of the studio keeps carrying on paternally about how we are all one big -- incestuous -- family, but when he wants one of his girls to do something that she does not want to do, he prompts her to do a line of coke and shoves her roughly against a wall. Spare the rod and spoil the child, you know.

The director has Marquis talk directly to the camera on several occasions, as if this were a reality TV show. She shows us how a microvideocamera works, a "spy camera" like that used in police and FBI stings. And there are times when scenes appear as if shot with one of those tiny cameras, all fuzzy and with horizontal lines. Not sure what the point of that was. And I'm not sure what happens to Pop either. His case seems to be hanging in the air at the end when, after a violent encounter with a man whose life Marquis has just professionally put an end to, she takes off with her naive young monogamous lover.

I assume -- I HOPE -- that she finally got back to taking care of Pops, because his disorder is rather advanced and it would take him an hour to peel a banana.

In any case, the very amateurishness of some of the performances contributes to the documentary feel of the film, but it's a documentary that is emotionally charged.

A surprise, well worth watching.