LOVELACE sneak-peek! This is NOT an official movie review. This synopsis is based on a rough-cut version of the film. Please note: This synopsis is rated R

LOVELACE
Biography, Drama
Rated R, 92 min.
Movie 2013, Millennium Films
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Peter Sarsgaard, Juno Temple, James Franco, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Chris Noth, Adam Brody, Hank Azaria, Eric Roberts, Wes Bentley, Chloe Sevigny
Directed by: Rob Epstein, Jeffery Friedman
Written by: Andy Bellin

Linda Lovelace’s time spent in the porn industry was a total of 14 days according to the new film, “Lovelace”, but her impact was one that lasted a life-time. “Lovelace”, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, stars Amanda Seyfried who plays the real-life Linda Lovelace- the woman who became the first-ever mainstream pornography super-star when she was co-horsed by her husband, Chuck (Peter Sarsgarrad) into making porn movie “Deep Throat.”

Born as Linda Boreman, “Lovelace” was a “stage” name given to her by “Deep Throat” director Jerry Damiano (Hank Azaria). This movie tells of a story that is not too heavy, too sad, or too dirty.

Peter Sarsgaard as Chuck Traynor and Amanda Seyfried as Linda Lovelace.

The film opens with the song “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” by Lou Reed and doesn’t edit the part out, “giving head” which, the audience soon discovers, so appropriately applies to Boreman. The opening visuals are very authentic 1970s settings and wardrobe and even some film graininess thrown in are all very nostalgic visuals of the 1970s decade. Boreman is first introduced to viewers reflecting on her life while smoking in a bath tub. Then, rewinds six years earlier to where she is a young twenty-two year old girl who talks about not wanting to sleep with her boyfriend yet because of “what happened last time” when she became pregnant at nineteen. Her friend Patsy, played by Juno Temple assures her “there are other things you can do” while making oral sex gestures. Talk of becoming a nun are also mentioned during her conversation with her friend.

A scene depicting “Deep Throat” (l-r) Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody.

In “Lovelace” Boreman meets her future husband Chuck Traynor while Go-Go dancing with her friend at a local night club. In actuality, the two met at a local swimming pool where he saw here sunbathing. Being raised by two religious and strict parents played by Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick, the stress of Boreman’s relationship with Chuck soon pushes her to moving-in with him. They soon married.

Amanda Seyfried in the biographical film LOVELACE

This is where the movie gets really interesting. The sequence of events from the time Linda and Chuck get married to the point in which she becomes an over-night porn star success is told in two versions of the same story. The first is one of what the outside world saw. A happy young woman willingly getting involved in the porn industry with dreams of becoming a serious actress someday who is supported by a loving husband helping her along the way. Then, rewind six years again back to the date of their wedding, same story, but this time, the underlying hidden pieces – missing pieces are placed in to get the full view of what Linda’s life was really like. This is a disturbing story.

The movie, “Lovelace” reveals the abuse inflicted on Linda by not only her husband, but also her mother. The situations of rape she endured at the hands of Chuck who was always trying to make a quick buck even at the cost of pimping his wife off to strangers. When it seemed there was no financial way out of the criminal mess Chuck had gotten himself into, he brought Linda to porn film maker Jerry Damiano (Hank Azaria) to convenience him to put her in a movie. Damiano was very hesitant to use Linda because of her lack of curves and having a thin frame. His mind was changed when Chuck showed him a film that he had made of Linda pleasuring him with her mouth. Damiano’s response was, “can she do that with a big cock?” Yes? Then we’re in business! He was so impressed that the film “Deep Throat” was born and so was “Lovelace” a name given to her by Damiano who directed the film. They soon began production.

The real Linda “Lovelace” in DEEP THROAT

The “Deep Throat” plot portrayed a young woman Linda Lovelace playing herself who goes to see a doctor because she can not climax during sex. Her complaint that she only hear bells and whistles during the final part of sex. But, she wants fireworks, rockets and explosions instead. After some inspection, the doctor (Adam Brody) discovers that her clitoris is located in her throat. He then assists her in reaching multiple orgasms.

“Deep Throat” went down in history as being the first major porn film and highest grosser of all time, earning $600 million. According to the movie, Linda only personally received $1250 from the profits of “Deep Throat”. The movie opens to mixed reviews. It was widely accepted, but also panned for being a porn film. Many stars including Frank Sinatra had parties and screened it in their homes. The “Deep Throat” movie premiere in “Lovelace” shows a young Hugh Hefner (played by James Franco) enjoying the movie with Linda. During her big scene, he turns to her and says “I think this is one of those times when life imitates art”.

Her hero ends-up being the producer of “Deep Throat” Anthony Romano (Chris Noth) who rescues her from Chuck and makes a way for her to escape the porn industry to start a new life.

Stand-out performances came from Amanda Seyfried who transformed from Linda Boreman to Linda Lovelace playing a typical teenager not understood by her parents with religious restraints that were just too much to take; Sharon Stone who was not recognizable playing Boreman’s mother, Dorothy Boreman; and Robert Patrick who played her father, John J. Boreman.

With an estimated budget of $10 million, “Lovelace” does a great story-telling job in exposing Linda’s trials during this time in her life. Fast-forward to years later after marrying a good man and raising a child, she finally reconciles with her parents and sets herself on a crusade by writing a tell-all book in which she had to under-go a polygraph test for by the publisher. She uses this as fuel to publicly speak-out against the porn industry in order to help others.

LOVELACE opens in theaters Friday, August 9, 2013.