This Girl's Life

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2005 Filmcritic.com

The girl's life in question is one of a porn star, in case you're wondering.

Newcomer Juliette Marquis is the girl -- with the stage name of Moon -- and the film takes us through a smattering of adventures in her life. She has to pick a guy to star with in a scene (with a geriatric applicant among the choices), she takes care of her father (James Woods), who suffers from Parkinson's, and she decides to start a small business playing femme fatale for women worried their significant others may be tempted to cheat on them.

The film is a pastiche of small events, laid out without much attention to pacing or flow. Writer/director Ash (yeah, we're thinking the same thing) is content to follow the lovely Marquis around and watch her in various states of undress, intercutting that with Woods doing a little hop-shuffle dance from time to time. Surprisingly, this comes together as somewhat watchable, though more than a bit senseless: I've never seen Woods in such a bizarre role (and shirtless, I might add), and Marquis reveals herself to be a capable actress, backed up by appearances from indie players like Rosario Dawson and Michael Rapaport.

Ash (Pups) is clearly working from the Larry Clark School of Life Textbook -- he doesn't have much story to tell, and he knows it, but damn if he isn't going to go down without a fight.

Rating

3.0 out of 5 Stars

  • Director: Ash
  • Producer: Ash, Chris Hanley, David Hillary
  • Screenwriter: Ash
  • Stars: James Woods, Juliette Marquis, Kip Pardue, Tomas Arana, Michael Rapaport, Rosario Dawson, Isaiah Washington, Ioan Gruffudd
  • MPAA Rating: R

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