Fluffer

I am surprised at how many people have given 'The Fluffer' a poor rating. I found the film to be very entertaining. The acting was excellent, the writing was excellent, and the sexual tension is incredibly well portrayed. I would say it is not as good as My Own Private Idaho, but it was certainly up there with it in quality.

The main character, Sean McGinnis (played by Michael Cunio) was very believable and I would like to see him in more films. The porn star was played very well by Scott Gurney who has since gone on to become the host of a reality TV program (what a shame).

This is a definite surprise film – I expected b-grade and definitely got a-grade.

See it; you will not regret it.

What a fun romp behind the scenes of the porn industry..with a love story thrown in...Lots of laughs, lots of drama, selling out at the QUAD theatre in NY's Greenwich village. And for once, the lines for the ladies' room are SHORTER than those for the men's room. Let us hear it for long lost Robert Walden of "LOU GRANT" fame.. Where has he been? He really hams it up as a sleazy porn producer...What's a guy to do when the guy he loves is only gay for pay!!! Heartache is a definite!

After Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights", the porn industry has been explored in a few interesting ways. Last year's "Wonderland" showed the downfall of porn legend John Holmes, a study of how desperate he became after realizing he hasn't been seen for anything but his "manhood". I recently saw "The Fluffer" which is detached to its subject, and simply shows how the characters are affected by their work.

"The Fluffer" is a film that unflinchingly shows the work of a small gay porn studio. I questioned its taste in some points, but I did in "Boogie Nights" also. I liked how it realistically shows how sex outweighing love leads to insanity in some form or another, but it is extremely hard to watch in spots.

Wash Westmoreland's story follows a pure young man named Sean who lets himself be degraded and used in his work as a cameraman in the studio. He falls for the studio's biggest star, Johnny Rebel. Rebel is straight, or so they say, but Sean can't help but love him. I found this point interesting, how Rebel (and I'm sure many straight porno stars) reduces himself to the homosexual market for more money. Anyway, Sean lets himself be dehumanized by Rebel and soon the industry sends all their lives in the wrong direction.

As a whole, "The Fluffer" doesn't fully succeed. Its messages are all told in familiar ways, (note the use of American flags to show the faded American dream for example) and the ending isn't fully convincing. However, it is a film that never stops entertaining and is definitely one of the very bravest depictions of the porn industry I've ever seen.

(2 and 1/2 out of 4)

A bisexual young man (Michael Cunio) gets a job at a porno company to get close to a porn star (Scott Gurney) that he's in love with. Unfortunately, the star is straight and living with his girlfriend.

This film got some savage reviews in the gay press so I expected the worst. But it was pretty good. It starts off as a mild but very funny comedy and suddenly veers off into depressing drama at the end. It's jarring but it does end up working. Still, the ending was pretty bad and very negative. All in all, it's an OK film with a funny view of the gay porn industry.

The acting is good--especially by Gurney. He absolutely gorgeous with an incredible body...and he can act! He's VERY pleasing to the eyes. Cunio is just OK as the kid. Not bad, not good, just OK. Also Deborah Harry (Blondie) turns in a strong performance as a strip club owner.

One big problem: Despite the subject matter, there is no frontal male nudity!!!! Whose idea was that?

The Fluffer was a great story with some terrific performances. Roxanne Day as "Babylon" and Michael Cunio as "Sean" were both outstanding in their character portrayals of two people obsessed with something they couldn't have. What makes them even more impressive was the fact that the object of their passion was the one major flaw in the film. "Rebel" was as lifeless and uninteresting a character as I've ever seen on film.

So, while Cunio and Day were working so convincingly at wrestling with their pain, Scott Gurney's "Rebel" made their job nearly impossible. It also made it nearly impossible for the audience to care. But somehow, Cunio and Day did make us care, and that is the art of acting at its best. The supporting cast was very good, the script was very good, the direction just so-so.