Every so often, a distinguished film comes out of the independent ranks. This is such a film. This is a story about a young man's descent into the sordid world of pornography. Paul Ryan (Michael DeGood) is an ordinary guy who works in a law firm as a paralegal. Paul is socially inept and a loser with women so he turns to pornography to dissipate his sexual needs. Ultimately he becomes obsessed with pornography and when the market can no longer fill his needs, he decides to make his own films using a hooker and an out of work actor. He visits Spano (Craig Wasson), a major porn producer who tells him he will let Paul direct his films if he brings Spano some fresh talent. This leads to his meeting and ruthless seduction of Kate (Katheryn Cain), a sweet and naïve girl from Tennessee who came to Hollywood in search of fame.
The story by first time writer/director Doug Atchison was penetrating, raw and real. This was a far more serious and realistic treatment of the pornography industry than the highly popular `Boogie Nights'. While `Boogie Nights' was more of a light, comedic lampoon of the industry, this film is a dark, hard hitting look at the culture and psychology of the makers and users of pornographic material. While there is a certain amount of sexual content, most of the film focuses on the characters and their helplessness within the vortex produced by the porn industry. Atchison captures the sense of hopeless desperation that exists among the consumers and actors, and the callous exploitation of these human emotions by the powerful porn magnates.
This film was released direct to video after a film festival release. From a production standpoint, it is about what you would expect from a low budget independent film, cheesy sets, uneven sound, and boring music. However, Atchison has a knack with the camera and his script is smart and incisive. The scenes were well directed and the actors, most of whom had very short resumes, were nicely orchestrated and insightfully presented.
The cast had numerous pleasant surprises. Craig Wasson is a veteran actor who has done a lot of TV and some minor movie roles. He was very convincing as the callous porn producer. Michael DeGood was outstanding in the starring role. He played Paul as insecure and desperately lonely, while also being obsessive and determined. He was extremely effective at portraying both the lows and highs that the character required. As far as I can determine, Katheryn Cain was the personification of her part in the story, an utterly fresh face. She was outstanding as the inexperienced small town girl who desperately wanted to be a star, and was susceptible to the unscrupulous manipulations of those who wanted to exploit her.
This is a superb film, especially by an independent filmmaker and a first time director. I rated it an 8/10. This first-rate film noir offering requires a thick skin and tolerance for disturbing sexual themes. Viewers offended by the idea of pornography should steer clear.
