Linda Lovelace is a name that has captured the attention of society for many years, especially those familiar with the porn industry’s most famous production, Deep Throat.
The new film Lovelace, now available on Blu-ray, attempts to capture the life of Lovelace (Amanda Seyfried) from her time in the adult entertainment world to her time criticizing it.
Lovelace is an ambitious film that is trying to tell the definitive story behind Deep Throat and the famous actress headlining it. Like most biopics, the movie lacks focus for too long and has way too much story packed into an hour and a half. There’s never a point to the whole thing.
It isn’t until halfway through the story that the filmmakers decide to give the film a center. They try to focus on the abusive relationship between Lovelace and Chuck Traynor (Peter Starsgaard). However, that center comes too late and arrives with a catch. The first half of Lovelace flies by as we watch Linda go from an innocent girl living with her parents to a new marriage to a successful porn career. We then watch as the film goes back in time and tries to fill in the blanks by showing Traynor’s true controlling nature.
This is a technique applied a few times that hurts the movie more than anything. The final product ends up as a jumbled puzzle that never fits together right. Despite the flawed gimmick that acts as a crutch for the final product, the actors of Lovelace all do a fine job. There are many “name” actors here, too. Everyone from Sharon Stone to Chris Noth show up, and they all do great. The best work is by Starsgaard and Seyfried who pull together some real heartbreaking performances. Too bad the film couldn’t be better.
Lovelace also suffers from the same problem many biopics face: there’s too much story. The script follows Lovelace from her youth before Deep Throat and Chuck to her time as a married woman speaking out about her doomed relationship and “acting” career. It’s all too much. Much is glossed over and, as a result, we never get a sense of Linda Lovelace as a real person.
Lovelace has got some good pieces, but it never figures out how to fit those pieces together quite right.
The Blu-ray edition features a single extra–the “making of” featurette Behind Lovelace.