You won't be disappointed!

Great Film overall

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This movie revolves around a prostitute named "Liz" (Theresa Russell) who essentially recounts her life to the audience in a series of flashbacks all leading up to her present situation involving her extremely angry pimp by the name of "Blake" (Benjamin Mouton). Now, although there are a few scenes of a sexual nature, most of these are quite brief and filmed with a minimum of nudity. That said, there is no passion or eroticism to be found in this movie at all. What this film does offer, however, is a sizable number of scenes focusing on Theresa Russell using foul language--in an annoying Bronx accent--at every turn. So much so that, while Theresa Russell is almost always a turn-on in most of her films, she managed to look quite bad in this particular movie. Begging the question of why she would have allowed herself to be so totally miscast in such a dreadfully sleazy role in the first place? One really has to wonder. In any case, I did not care for this movie at all and had it not featured this beautiful and talented actress I would have rated it even lower than I have. Definitely below average.

The comments on this film are pretty amusing, I just hope Mr. Russell has seen a few of them, as it would probably tickle him to-no-end. Come on, people, this is the real deal here, and these are a lot of the realities of prostitution. It isn't pretty, is it? How much value is attached to the life of a prostitute? Ask the King County sheriff's Department and the Seattle Police, they allowed the Green River killer to run-riot for 20+ years.I consider this a pretty pure film for Ken Russell, and a pretty compassionate statement FOR the victims of prostitution. Legalization is (wisely) advocated, and we even get a few of the arguments (from the pimp himself) what some of the drawbacks would be. Prostitution is illegal for means of social control, period. Watch this film, and you will understand that Mr. Russell is a GENUINE Christian with a heart--after all, Jesus consorted with such people, didn't he? They need our help and our compassion, which is the main-theme of the film.Of course, Ken Russell also enjoys the inherent bawdiness of the material-at-hand, or he wouldn't be Ken Russell! The dialog is a dream, and David Mamet's plays/screenplays would be a good analogy. It's also clear that a lot of the dialog came from real prostitutes and their stories. While some have commented on the low-budget look of the film, I don't think that this is accurate. It looks pretty slick cinematography-wise, and the acting by Theresa Russell (no-relation to the writer/director) is astonishing. She is easily one of the greatest actresses of her generation. She's also incredibly powerful in projecting her sexuality as an actor, which is pretty rare.Only Kathleen Turner stands as her equal.So, if you enjoyed "Crimes of Passion" nearly as much as I did (a masterpiece), this will be a wonderful companion-film for you, dear viewers. You either love or hate Ken Russell, and he has always been my favorite form of a high-stress personality endurance-test. Most tend to fail this test, but it takes all-kinds, doesn't it? Once it hits DVD, it will finally be able to be fully-assessed. That it shines so brightly on my (unrated)VHS-copy is testament to its brilliance, and the genius of Ken Russell. A message to be heeded on the "world's oldest-profession." Puritans, take-heed. It shouldn't be a problem to say it. Give this man money to make another film!

This is really more of a documentary then a film. I caught it on tv my accident and sat down to watch. I can't say I "liked" this-I have read some reviews and don't know how it could be regarded as a comedy-this is pretty intense stuff. It is a very unpleasant movie to watch and I didn't enjoy it. However I have to give the movie makers credit for making this as well as Teresa Russell for starring in it-I can't see this ever appealing to the masses but it was a mjaor example of quite the daring way of making movies. This tells of what prostitution is about in a way that's so different then Pretty Woman it makes Pretty woman seem laughable. Although I disliked this movie and thought parts of it could have been done better it sure is alot more realistic then Pretty Woman although most people don't even know of its existance.

The tone of this movie is annoyingly inconsistent. Is it supposed to be a gritty expose of prostitution or a tongue-in-cheek comedy? The only thing you can be sure about is that it really deserves its NC-17 rating. The device of having Theresa Russell talking directly to the camera (and, consequently, to us) was perhaps intended to give a documentary feel to the whole production, but it has the opposite effect: it never lets you forget that "it's only a movie". (**)