Reviews

Well made, riveting, and an important piece of contemporary history. Bravery of a perfectly imperfect normal human being, rising to a level of bravery and persistent survivalism, that sets her apart and above the fray. In today's quicksand-like morass of gutless money and ego chasing humans, the non pretentious Stephanie Clifford/Stormy Daniels, lands somewhere in between the biblical figures of Tamar, Rahab, and the woman caught inn Adultery, in terms of an unlikely, but actual, human hero, human-in-distress, human being used by others, but continuing to fight and define and redefine where she is at, what are her goals, at each changing chapter in this historical drama unfolding before our eyes. My prayers and admiration for this woman and gratitude to her and the film makers and the honesty of herself and also to her ex-husband musician-guy, who along with Ms. Daniels, show love at both sides of a romance and marriage that both blossomed and then was crushed amidst all this, and the frailty of imperfect human choices evolving through this trial by fire.

Very well wrought. Olga Kurylenko showing an unexpected different facet of her thespian chops than I've personally seen before. I was very impressed by her performance by the end. Classic theme outta Kurosawa or maybe the accidental simple dynamics of the first Die Hard, much as I hate giving too much credit to the latter comparison. Yes, and maybe the Kurosawa comparison is a bit heady but if you visualized the same plot carried out by the likes of such and a female version of Toshiro Mifune and everybody wielded samurai swords and stuff, well, kinda the same thing. Olga Kurylenko and the unlikely, and at first totally unlikeable (adding another offbeat edge) costar she is saving both evolve into an odd couple, plot wise, and Kurylenko shows a wide range of odd humorous (amidst the blood and gore action) acting chops that I've never seen her allowed to do in a film. I was impressed. Gary Oldman plays the master bad guy and a silver-haired wizened Dermot Mulroney handily plays his simple, but not as simple as it first appears, role as the head of the police. It makes me contemplate Kurylenko: She could surprise everybody with what she can do in her acting career, and maybe she already has and I simply haven't seen that many good examples. Bravo to the director for weaving the story. Simple like a 17 syllable Japanese poem with machine guns. Yay.

Exquisitely constructed motion picture.

With some of the same impeccability of simple, but highly layered with meaning, storyline as the book "The Old Man and the Sea" by Hemingway, and to some similar degree the movie, "Lamb" carves, from an entirely different part of this planet, a focused seamless motion picture.

If they're making movies like this in Ethiopia, or by Ethiopians, please get us some more!!!

I saw this film once, maybe around 1998 or so, and was totally blown away by its straightforward accounting of the history of African Americans in Los Angeles from early days to present, using the touchstones following the "Watts Riot" or Civil Insurrection and then especially the Riots or Civil Insurrection after the first "innocent" verdict on the police who beat Rodney King, almost to death. The amazing thing, among others, is its clear description of the manipulation of racism against the African American community often started for strictly financial motives of political power (echoed powerfully today, in my view of course), by Trump rising to power by focusing racism to fit his agenda, then use his positions of power, well before his incomprehensible presidency, to fill his own coffer with money redirected from others). ANYWAY, it's an invaluable resource, and really wish it was available. I think i saw very very low resolution, as if filmed off a television screen, versions of it on you tube, but would love for the film to be made public. I can't even say, my memory is totally accurate as to the film, and it's been so long since I've seen it. That's a tragedy of it not being, currently, accessible, and the age of my memory. I'll tell you one thing, I saw it, and never forgot it.