This Girl's Life (2003)

This Girl's Life examines the world of a young internet porn superstar, Moon (Juliette Marquis in her debut role.) The gripping drama focuses on Moon's relationships with her father (James Woods), suffering from Parkinson's Disease, her best friend (Rosario Dawson), a potential boyfriend (Kip Pardue), and her porn producer (Tomas Arana). Told from Moon's perspective, a new guilt-free, voyeuristic sexuality is explored as the young sex star's world slowly unravels as she tests the boundaries of herself and those closest to her.

Not all pron is bad

It was an interesting view that not all porn is bad and not all porn stars are druggies and abused kids. The premiss that porn in and of itself is not bad but the way its made and how the unhealthy enviornment of most porn is bad. If some how it could be made a more 'main stream' industry it could be a healthy(er) and cleaner way of making a living. The downside of the movie they leave it at that, no hard suggestions of how, hints of more female directors and producers, but just small hints of how. All in all a good movie, better then others I have seen similar to this one. November 11, 2007

poor story with un-(or under)-developed characters

Apart from James Woods, this was dismal. The Moon character is suppose to have this awakening and by the end of the movie be a woman. The situations she was put in were transparent and lacked any grounding in a rational mind. If she was this big porn SUPERSTAR then why can't she afford a nurse to care for her "Parkinson's disease-suffering" father when she is gone? Would not starting a business based on trying to make people cheat be dangerous? Would saying you can "take on" twenty guys be a bad move? I know that was not Moon but the stupidity is not limited to her story. A little, and I mean VERY little, common sense would have put her in the same place that this lunatic story did.

Again and again the actions and journeys taken are unnecessary except as poorly executed attempts to emotionally manipulate the viewer. Just a touch of logic or common sense would have been nice. I don't sympathize with fools.

April 4, 2007

Strangely uneven movie

For a movie that promotes itself as a trashy Skinemax flick, it's sure trying hard to be quality. All the actors deliver their lines with a crisp delivery that makes you think that they are reciting Shakespeare and that Method Acting never reared it's mumbling head. The camera work is excellent and the characters are engaging enough.

The problem with this movie is that it doesn't know if it wants to be the sleazy movie that it's advertised as, or a serious drama about a woman trying to care for her father with Parkinson's disease. James Woods is giving it his all as the one character in the movie that mumbles and stumbles and falls. He's got enough energy to let you know that he was once a powerful figure and the way the disease tears into him is that much more heart breaking.

The only problem is that he's acting the hell out of this tragic character in the middle of a sleazy sex movie. So every time he shows up, he's distracting from a Skinemax scene, and as much as I admire the man's acting, he's not so good of an actor that his tragic character can overcome his interruption of the sleazy parts.

So this could have been a good movie - or it could have been two separate good movies, but instead it's one big mess. September 6, 2006

A Sad Cautionary Tale

I did not find this film to be particularly erotic. I only found it to be sad. It did, however, have a few redeeming qualities.

The story is of a beautiful young woman in the porn business. She was not forced into it. The money is only part of it. She does it because she likes sex. She works on the internet and makes a good living. She also takes care of her father who suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Through the course of the film, she undergoes a character change. She decides to go into the PI business investigating men for infidelity and that takes her to some even uglier parts of life. She seems amoral but there is some character in there. The problem is she is not sure what she wants. She thinks she may have found a boyfriend but is not sure. The factors in her life, stress, taking care of Pops, an aides scare, physical danger and such prompt an even stronger character change. Most people would consider it to be for the better.

The end is ambiguous. You know she has cleaned up some aspects of her life but we are not really sure how thorough the cleaning is.

The film is well acted and well done. The drama is real and some of the action is graphic. It does what a drama should do in terms of generating character development and change. Still, sitting through it was a trial for me. I am glad to have seen it but I don't need to do it again.
June 5, 2006

Marquis shines where drama slighly falters

Juliette Marquis pops off the screen in this movie (first seen on Showtime). James Woods chews scenery as her disabled father. January 29, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...