Shattered Innocence

This biopic shows us the tragic story of Colleen Applegate, who at a very young age moved to Hollywood from the midwest and became porn star Shauna Grant. Though the names have been changed, it is her story. The film is well-acted, especially by Melinda Dillon, who plays the girl's mother. I recommend this TV movie to anyone who enjoys a tragic real life story. I give this an 8 out of 10.

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

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 ****

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 1988 made for t.v. movie was based on the life and ultimate suicide of Colleen Applegate, a young woman from Minnesota who went to Hollywood at the age of 18 with dreams of stardom, became a porn star under the name of "Shauna Grant" and then returned to her hometown two years later to be buried, a tragic suicide at the age of 20.

This movie is a fictionalized account of her life and death although apparently her parents did cooperate in the making of this film.

Jonna Lee portrays "Pauline Anderson", the fictionalized version of Colleen. She overacts at times, but otherwise does a competent job of portraying the innocence and then gradual freefall of a young girl who gets ensnared into the adult entertainment industry through cocaine and big money. Melinda Dillon portrays her mother, and does a good job of conveying her character's devastation and shame at her daughter's choice of career, and eventual destruction.

I think what gave this movie more poignancy to me was the fact that it was based on a true story, not just some hack writer's imagination working overtime. How many thousands of young girls go to Hollywood each year with the hopes of breaking into the movies, only to fall into porn, with devastating results? It's a chilling thought, and Colleen's suicide is a reminder of this.