good back-story, and good acting

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Nick Broomfield often pokes his camera in places many would rather he not venture. The liars, and occasionally, people telling the truth, in his films are like those pilots having dogfights in old war movies. Who will shoot down who first?My summary refers to the entertainment industry that always has and always will have an arm which reaches out for prostitutes' services. In the old days, rich men could buy sex and expect a certain discretion came along with the carnal for hire agreements. Now, any woman who claims she was Eldrick Woods' mistress or a hooker he dallied with is thrust into the spotlight by a tabloid juggernaut that needs constant angles on the latest scandal. Whether or not there is a scintilla of truth doesn't really stop the steamroller from flattening ethics in journalism to a ridiculous non standard of rumour and outright fabrication. Where are you when we need you, Walter Cronkite?Broomfield interviews many here and most of them have their hand out, wanting money to speak. Heidi comes across as the most likable person you could meet in this sleazy crowd. The ultimate scum is her former boyfriend, Ivan, who delights in proving how he can manipulate her anytime he wants. If anyone should have gone to jail, it really should have been this obnoxious fool.Prostitution is here to stay. Decriminalizing it and making sure the health of both workers and their clients are sound is much more important than some "crimes" which have been foolishly prosecuted by overzealous DAs and harshly sentenced in the US. The persecution of sex workers of legal age and other felonies, like non violent marijuana offences, are clogging up the courts and jails/prisons. Throw the book at those who force underage boys and girls into selling themselves and those who commit rape on the internet. Let the Heidis of the world peddle sex and their customers buy it. And pay taxes too!

Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1995) was another great film from Nick Broomfield. This time he tries to get a one-on-one interview with Heidi Fleiss and documents the life and times of Hollywood's most famous high price madam (pimp). Broomfield interview those who were close to Ms. Fleiss and people who knew her off hand or in passing. But as Mr. Broomfield logs in the miles and rolls of film, Heidi Fleiss is very elusive and hard to reach. One of the most funniest parts of the documentary is the confrontation Nick Broomfield has with a local news reporter. Does he get the interview? Will anyone co-operate with him? Is it worth watching? You'll have to find out for yourself!!I enjoyed this film very much. It was a real hoot seeing Nick Broomfield trying to get answers out of people who wanted to get paid or those who didn't trust him. A lot of home movies and nude peeks at Heidi Fleiss as well. If you watch this movie you'll a different opinion about the woman either way. No matter if it's the common street walker or a high priced hooker the business is all the same. Seedy, sleazy and shady.Highly recommended.

First of the person who said you will like the characters in the film is out of his mind. The characters in this BBC documentary from Fleiss to her 50 yr disgusting exboyfriend Ivan Nagy are truly revolting. Cap it we see how Fleiss was brought....rich...My god. How pitiful that so many rich white punks out here in California sink their life down the toilent when you have honest hardworking people working day by day for nothing.Anyhow, no surprise we learn that eventually the Fleiss household was one big dysfunctional family leading up to Fleiss turning tricks with the help of an old whore named Madame Alex.The film was funny to me because anytime you see so many dysfunctional characters on screen you cant stop from laughing (like in NBC's Days of Our Lives and Passion).I am surprised that by all Nick Broomfield encounters he doesnt fall on the floor laughing while filming this.I know I would.The best work Nick does here is really exposing Fleiss as the 20 cent whore she is and even when she was getting rich of her prostitute she still wanted more even gone as far as starting to squeeze out that old whore Madama Alex.Another funny part that has to be seen is when see an old washed up porn star, literally begging for me to support her drug habit.Um yeah, porn stars , theres another example of life's loosers. LOLHighly recommend but only to people who really want to laugh their asses off from beginning to end, but then again "Laughter is the best medicine"5 out of 10.

It's hard not to enjoy Heidi Fleiss, a work clearly superior to rote television sensationalism. Never fear, sensationalism is present in abundance and obviously drives the movie. Broomfield hops from madam to druggie to porn-star with gleeful excess, intent on shocking and disgusting as much as possible within the confines of broadcast-quality material. However, he tends to show us a little more, material that run of the mill documentarians wouldn't show. We see, for example, LA Chief of Police Daryl Gates accepting a surprisingly large sum of money for his appearance in the film, apparently unconcerned that he's being filmed doing so. Before interviewing a former porn actress about her connections with Heidi, he establishes the fact that she's appearing to get some quick cash to fund her drug habit. Bloomfield's obvious mean-spirited approach to each and every character - with the blatant exception of the fetishized Fleiss - leaves no room for casual viewer identification. Broomfield himself constantly appears to add to the sense that none of these people, including the filmmaker, spends their time doing kind, humane things. The two people suggested as major influences on Fleiss's road to ruin would make an ideal harpie and Cyclops. Elderly Madam Alex, who died shortly after her scenes were shot, gossips rampantly for two visits but starts cursing Broomfield out when he refuses to pay for follow-up visits. Possibly not entirely evil Ivan Nagy, writer/director of a number of unimpressive features, does all he can to convince Broomfield's cameraman (when Broomfield's not having any of it) that he's just a good guy and could never have done all the things proven to be true about him. Victoria Sellers - Peter and Britt Ekland's daughter - grants Broomfield an interview right out of rehab, clearly at the end of her rope. Conceptually, this all would be difficult to absorb due to the daunting amount of pain all these people are going for, but Broomfield's nasty spirit finds a way to make it all fun. Always welcome porn star Ron Jeremy appears in a sleazy hotel room.