Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Based on a stage production, a getting-old prostitute talks about her life, her desires, and her exhaustion.
Biased, pithy comments: Designed as the antidote to ``Pretty Woman,'' this film takes a long hard look at life on the street. It's actually quite good at times---a careful look at a woman who has fallen into a trap, but can't ever seem to get herself out of the rut she's in. Likewise, she's incapable of thinking her way out of the problem---her options have been so limited for so long she can't remember what it was like to be ``normal.'' The entire movie is done in more or less monologue, and it's perhaps here that it doesn't quite work as well as it should; it feels like someone telling you (somewhat cliched) things about the life of prostitution rather than, say, the grim reality of ``Kids.'' The monologue, delivered a little awkwardly by Russell, undercuts the versimilitude, and as a result it didn't quite gel for me. Your mileage may vary.
Other Notes: Ken Russell and Theresa Russell are no relation. NC-17, but I'm not sure why---perhaps because it deals with reality, which is sorta grim for your average prostitute.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Theresa Russell, Sanjay, Antonia Fargas, Benjamin Mouton.
Directed by: Ken RUssell