Review of "Meet Monica Velour"
Published 4/4/10
Written and Directed By: Keith Bearden
Starring: Kim Cattrall, Dustin Ingram, Brian Dennehy
Nothing is more fascinating than the private lives of famous people after they have lost traction with the public. In many parts of the entertainment industry they can just live off of their accumulated wealth and become, say, the people behind the camera. This is not generally true, however, of veterans of the pornography industry, where women are forced out relatively young by most career standards and even the most successful figures don’t earn any skills that they can write on a resume.
In “Meet Monica Velour,” we get a glance at the many ways in which middle age is not kind to the ex-porn star. The movie is at once a coming-of-age story about a misfit and first loves and a fascinating exploration into what happens to the people that we (the public) discard. It begins with Tobe, (Dustin Ingram) a recent high school graduate and quiet odd-ball whose best friend is his ten year-old neighbor, deciding to take a cross-country trip in order to meet his favorite 1980s porn star. When he gets there expecting to meet the beautiful Monica Velour (aka Lisa, played by Kim Cattrall), what he finds is a sad, broke, cellulite-ridden middle-aged woman who wants nothing more than custody of her daughter and the ability to provide for her. Tobe, however, is smitten and endeavors to find a way to fit into her life.
Monica Velour is no Samantha Jones, Cattrall’s most famous character from the “Sex and The City” franchise. Velour is a complicated, broken down woman with a daughter and a wicked ex-husband whose over-the-hill looks are startlingly on display when we first see her awkwardly pole dance her way through a melancholy song in a nearly empty strip club. Cattrall’s careful portrayal, however, brings to life from this miserable shell somebody kind and generous who, at the very least, we know is trying her best.
Dustin Ingram’s Tobe is a mouthier Napoleon Dynamite, a popular character with the indie film crowd these days. The character is well used in this film, however, better than in most. His obsession with 80’s porn is more nerdy than disgusting, his naïveté makes him charming, and his chemistry with Monica, who is old enough to be his mother and walks a fine line between parental figure and needy girlfriend, is appropriately awkward but somehow endearing. He is both a hero and a loser and plays both with an understated but appropriate amount of comedy.
“Meet Monica Velour” is slow at times, but it’s much sweater than the subject matter would suggest and will be enjoyable even for indie audiences not interested in the social commentary it unwittingly provides. Ultimately, it’s just another stylized coming-of-age story, but it’s well done and, really, can we ever have too many of those?
Starring: Kim Cattrall, Dustin Ingram, Brian Dennehy
Nothing is more fascinating than the private lives of famous people after they have lost traction with the public. In many parts of the entertainment industry they can just live off of their accumulated wealth and become, say, the people behind the camera. This is not generally true, however, of veterans of the pornography industry, where women are forced out relatively young by most career standards and even the most successful figures don’t earn any skills that they can write on a resume.
In “Meet Monica Velour,” we get a glance at the many ways in which middle age is not kind to the ex-porn star. The movie is at once a coming-of-age story about a misfit and first loves and a fascinating exploration into what happens to the people that we (the public) discard. It begins with Tobe, (Dustin Ingram) a recent high school graduate and quiet odd-ball whose best friend is his ten year-old neighbor, deciding to take a cross-country trip in order to meet his favorite 1980s porn star. When he gets there expecting to meet the beautiful Monica Velour (aka Lisa, played by Kim Cattrall), what he finds is a sad, broke, cellulite-ridden middle-aged woman who wants nothing more than custody of her daughter and the ability to provide for her. Tobe, however, is smitten and endeavors to find a way to fit into her life.
Monica Velour is no Samantha Jones, Cattrall’s most famous character from the “Sex and The City” franchise. Velour is a complicated, broken down woman with a daughter and a wicked ex-husband whose over-the-hill looks are startlingly on display when we first see her awkwardly pole dance her way through a melancholy song in a nearly empty strip club. Cattrall’s careful portrayal, however, brings to life from this miserable shell somebody kind and generous who, at the very least, we know is trying her best.
Dustin Ingram’s Tobe is a mouthier Napoleon Dynamite, a popular character with the indie film crowd these days. The character is well used in this film, however, better than in most. His obsession with 80’s porn is more nerdy than disgusting, his naïveté makes him charming, and his chemistry with Monica, who is old enough to be his mother and walks a fine line between parental figure and needy girlfriend, is appropriately awkward but somehow endearing. He is both a hero and a loser and plays both with an understated but appropriate amount of comedy.
“Meet Monica Velour” is slow at times, but it’s much sweater than the subject matter would suggest and will be enjoyable even for indie audiences not interested in the social commentary it unwittingly provides. Ultimately, it’s just another stylized coming-of-age story, but it’s well done and, really, can we ever have too many of those?
