Don't Believe the Hype

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Although I have read the book about the "Mayflower Madam," I can honestly say this made-for-television movie is not a faithful adaptation of that non-fiction literary work. However, it was both entertaining and provocative. I highly sympathize with Miss Barrows. Though I wouldn't say that this film advocates the legalization of the "escort" profession, it did make feel why does our Society have to demonize it so much. It is, after all, a profession to cater and to be catered by mature adults.Par excellence performance by Candice Bergen.

"Mayflower Madam" is a dull, insipid film about Sidney Biddle Barrows who ran a high-class call-girl ring in 1980s New York. The book by Barrows, on which this movie is based, is far more interesting because it tells the tale of how a well-bred WASP got into the escort service business. The book is prurient and titillating without being offensive. The movie is merely boring. Candice Bergen is miscast as the Mayflower Madam.(Reviewed by Sundar Narayan)