Note: this is the DVD version of the film that I’m reviewing
Lovelace is biographical movie about Linda Lovelace who was the first high profile porn star ever. In the 70s, she did a film called Deep Throat that changed the industry forever by making the film more mainstream. She wasn’t always so sexually free; when she was younger she was actually more conservative until she did some go-go dancing at her local skate rink. She got the attention of a man named Chuck Tray nor, a small time hustler and all around want-to-be player. She has a very strict mother and is late a few times for curfew so she moves out and marries Chuck. Broke and at a low point, he makes a deal for Linda to star in a porno film called Deep Throat and it her life changed after that.
Lovelace is the autobiographical film by debut directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman about Linda Lovelace and her life. It stars Amanda Seyfried as Linda Lovelace, James Franco as Hugh Hefner, Peter Sarsgaard as Chuck Traynor, and Sharon Stone as Dorothy Boreman. Going in to this movie, I really didn’t know much about it or Linda Lovelace but this is the crash course on this girl’s life. The things that Chuck put her through were insane. Seyfried has really come a long way as an actress that now has a lot of depth and range of emotions. Sarsgaard has also played a range of roles but this is probably his best performance to date. He plays such a vile person that there is no way anyone could like his character. One other notable performance is Sharon Stone. I didn’t even know she was in the movie until I saw her on screen and she was a pretty abusive parent. It’s no wonder how she ended up marrying someone as vicious as Chuck.
The video quality of this transfer is very good for a DVD transfer. I viewed it on a Blu-ray player that upscale the picture to 1080p. The disc itself only had the movie and one special feature on it so the audio and video had plenty of room to maximize the space on it. One thing to note is the detailing that was seen even down to the freckles that they constantly made mention to in the movie. There is a light grain on the film that gives it the look and feel of being from the 70s. Everything looks natural and unprocessed.
The audio is mixed in a nice Dolby Digital 5.1 that is also impressive on the release. The LFE is very bassy, especially where there’s music in the scenes. With the music having a lot of funk and classic rock, there’s a lot of great use of the subwoofer. The movie does make good use of all channels and not just during scenes with crowds or outdoors. Overall, the mix is well done.
The supplements are very light but it does give a lot of insight into the making of the film
Supplements
Behind Lovelace- this is a featurette about how the movie was made and why the story is important. It features the directors, cast and the crew.
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Disc Details
Audio
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English
Spanish
This is a really good movie. It has a lot of very dark undertones and her story is very sad. Every actor in the film does a great job with their roles and I think the director’s choices are perfect. The release looks excellent in the format and it may actually be the better format to watch it in. As I said, there aren’t too many details that are missed in the transfer and the grain makes the film feel like it’s an older movie. If you’re into biographies and/or in to that time period, I recommend picking this up or giving it a rent.
