This Girl's Life

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.

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.

Ebert and Roeper gave this two thumbs up and were very impressed with the lead actress. On that basis I rented the video. This was an interesting film in that it portrayed a likable individual with some good (but often indirect) character development as the porn star. Although there were semi-graphic sexual scenes, they were not gratuitous and were integral to the development of the story.

I found myself generally interested in most of the primary characters. The film presented them with enough depth to make them intriguing. I have not seen any other films depicting the porn industry and its stars that I can think of, so I can't compare it to "the competition." I actually know a few people who have worked in this industry, and felt the characters depicted were consistent with the people I know.

The lead actress did give a credible performance. I was interested in how her life evolved on screen, in the decisions she made, etc. She was also quite attractive which helped maintain the interest.

At the end I found I was questioning myself as to whether I truly enjoyed the film or not. In some ways it exceeded my expectations, but I didn't feel it lived up to E & R's highly positive review.

I liked this film, mainly because of it's "real life" feeling. It plays out almost like a documentary. It is populated by real people who have real problems in real situations. I think Ebert says all about this film in just one phrase: '"This Girl's Life" is an imperfect movie with so many moments of truth that you forgive its stumbles.'

That's about it, this is a very realistic, believable film with a couple of excellent performances by Juliette Marquis and James Woods. The Direction by Ash (who has also written and produced this movie) is also worthy of mention.

Definitely worth watching!

I like James Woods, and I thought his performance in this film as a father with Parkinson's was outstanding. The lead, Juliette Marquis, is fairly new, and also did a great job. I was really touched watching her stop her life at times to care for her father, ass-wiping and all.

Rosario Dawson made a couple of brief appearances talking about the porn life, and gave some brilliant comments.

This is not really a "porn" movie, but a drama shot in documentary style showing the life of someone in the internet porn business. Even leaving has consequences as Michael Rapaport suspiciously shows up just as she was walking out; and he was not a happy man. I wonder who tipped him off? It was a good story and worth the time.