UK Premiere / Features – International

Showing @ Filmhouse 1 Wed 22 @ 19:50 & Fri 24 @ 19:00

Keith Bearden / USA / 2010 / 98 min / English

Plastered across the bedroom walls of teenagers across the world are posters of their icons, their shining stars who they blindly look up to above all others as kinds of demi-gods. Usually it’s the boy band of the moment, or the lead of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. But for Tobe (Dustin Ingram) it’s none other than Monica Velour (Kim Cattrall), an ageing, past-it porn star. When she makes a rare appearance at a strip club in Indiana, Tobe realises his life-long ambition to meet her, but before long realises that her life is terribly troubled, and sets out to save her from herself.

Ingram makes a brilliant geek, and his awkwardness is so convincingly extreme at times that you wonder if he’s even acting or just stumbled his way into the lead role of a movie. It’s refreshing to see Cattrall in a complete departure from her usual sassy, sophisticated roles, showing that she has real acting talent and isn’t just a one trick pony. Brian Dennehy is hilarious as Pop Pop, and his scenes with Ingram are full of a magic spark of chemistry and reluctant affection – the highlight of the film.

Despite the great acting, there’s no real sympathy created towards Monica; she really is a total mess who never shows any believable or substantial interest in her daughter, and her flippant decision to jeopardise her fight for custody in favour of making a quick buck only goes to emphasise her selfish recklessness. Very little in the script really shows any character progression or development, which doesn’t make for satisfying viewing. Indeed, much of the film’s failings come down to the script, which meanders along without quite knowing what it is, be that drama, coming of age or comedy. Sadly this is a distraction rather than an enhancement and leaves the feeling that, once again, we’ve seen it all before.