I am not one for either reading reviews or writing them. I did however sign up with IMDb just now to recommend this movie and posit that Kim Cattrall should easily have taken home a best actor award of some sort for her work in it. For those who have seen the movie or those who will see it, there is a scene (and you will know which one I mean) toward the end that is absolutely breath-taking. I have not seen something that honest and powerful in a movie in a very very long time. I get a chill just thinking about it now. I think as we get older we forget about the tug we felt inside when we first fell in love. We might even block it on purpose because it is frightening and beautiful and very powerful all at the same time. When I watched this film I knew where that feeling was and that it doesn't ever really go away. In a cinematic sea of pop-romance films, this one digs down much deeper. Kim Cattrall makes you want to be her hero. Her performance is just that special.
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bansheegraphics19 February 2013
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paul_haakonsen20 December 2015Wow, who knew? "Meet Monica Velour" turned out to be a rather unique and charming comedy unlike most other teenage comedies. And while it may not be the type of comedy that will have you laughing your heart out, it is the type of movie that sinks right into the heart and sticks with you.
The story is about 17 year old Tobe Hobert (played by Dustin Ingram), an awkward teenager who travels across USA in an old hot dog vendor van to see a rare performance by Monica Velour (played by Kim Cattrall), his favorite porn star from the 1980s. An odd friendship blossoms between the smitten teenager and the struggling former porn actress.
It is the odd and unique storyline that makes "Meet Monica Velour" such an enjoyable movie, and the permeated sense of real life as well. But also the amazing performances by Dustin Ingram and Kim Cattrall.
"Meet Monica Velour" was really a surprise of a movie, and I was genuinely entertained by the story and performances.
If you haven't seen this fabulous movie, then you should really take yourself an hour and a half to watch "Meet Monica Velour". This movie scores a rock-solid seven out of ten stars from me. -
BoomerDT22 June 2019So what happens to the sexual acrobats from porn's so-called Golden Age, the 70's and early 80's? Like Marilyn Chambers, Linda Lovelace, Tracy Lords? In an inspired bit of casting, Kim Cattrall, is playing Monica Velour, who was a former centerfold and star of porn classics such as "Saturday Night Beaver" and "Frankenbooty" (the titles and cover art of her porn filmography is rather hilarious) but is now trying to get gigs stripping in decrepit titty bars in rural Indiana, where she lives in a trailer. Kim would strike it big as the perpetually horny Samantha in "Sex and the City" although men of a certain age will best remember her as a hot gym teacher in "Porky's" nicknamed "Lassie" because she loved to have sex in the gym laundry room where the smell of stinky jockstraps while engaging in coitus would eventually get her howling.
Tobe, a way too typical nerdish 17 yr old drives to IN to meet his favorite porn star, although one wonders how in the world he would have discovered her. Not much happens in this, there's a sub-plot about Monica wanting to get custody of her young daughter and of course Tobe ends up losing his virginity to Monica, not a bad way to start, even if Monica Velour is a bit overweight, jaded and quite disheveled by this point in life. Could have been better if they hadn't gone too far over the top with Tobe's character, copying "Napoleon Dynamite" Kim Cattrall turns in a great performance. -
cosmo_tiger13 August 2011"Why can't you like normal stuff like everybody else?" Toby is a nerd. He likes things no one else does like 1920's music, but his favorite thing of all is former adult film star Monica Velour (Cattrall). After his Grandfather (Dennehy) insults him one too many times Toby decides to leave, and meets Monica. This is the type of movie that when you watch you like it, but when its over and you look back on it you start to like it more and more. I snickered a few times watching, but when I remember the lines and context I laugh harder. This movie is a surprisingly sweet coming of age tale about a boy on his way up and a woman on her way down. I have a bad habit of, for lack of a better word, over-simplifying a review by comparing it to movies people have heard of. That said...this movie is a cross between "Napolean Dynamite" and "Boogie Nights". If Napolean met the Julianna Moore character from "Boogie Nights" you would have this movie. I will have to say the Kim Cattrall is the perfect choice for this movie and while not being the total opposite of Samantha she is more of a burnt out version of that character. I would love to see at least a Golden Globe nomination for her for this, but I doubt that will happen. Overall, a good movie that will grow on you. I give it a B
Would I watch again? - I think I might
*Also try - Elektra Luxx -
phd_travel29 March 2012Watched this because I'm a Kim Cattrall fan. She shows she is a versatile and talented actress who can do much more than just Samantha. She can play anything from sophisticated Manhattanite to even trailer trash former porn star. She even lets all the wrinkles show.
Her co-star Ingram is a bit too goofy looking to be watchable. Makes the movie a bit second rate. Could have chosen a more appealing nerd geek type.
Unfortunately the story is more painful than touching.
Overall watch it if you are Kim Cattrall fan, otherwise it isn't a must see. -
MaximusXXX11 April 2021It's a dark comedy. But there's a lot of real feels in this one.
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twilliams7628 September 2011Even with a surprisingly strong performance from Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City, Mannequin, The Ghost Writer) as the titular character, it isn't worth meeting Monica Velour. The film is too clichéd to be any good and with a Napoleon Dynamite-ish protagonist (Dustin Ingram - Sky High) parts of it are downright bad. It is ALL seen that/done that.
It is a coming of age tale about the Napoleon-clone, Tobe, who graduates from high school a virgin (oh the horror!) and is gifted a Weiner food-truck by his grandfather, Pop Pop (Brian Dennehy - First Blood, Romeo + Juliet, Assault on Precinct 13) upon graduation. It must be noted that Tobe is rather ungrateful for the gift which makes it difficult for him and the film to win-over a viewer ("oh the kid's un-imaginable plight!")
To give Tobe a bit of originality, he adores vintage porn with one actress from the early 80's in particular -- Monica Velour. When he decides to sell his Weiner truck AND finds out that Ms. Velour is performing a special engagement near the buyer's location (oh the convenience!!!), Tobe roadtrips to Indiana to meet the woman of his dreams. What he discovers is that Ms. Velour is rather washed-up and jaded (and old) ... although she does initially fancy the young man's flirtations. Again -- it is ALL seen that/done that before. Tobe is supposed to come across as a pure innocent who wants/longs to help this damsel in distress; but his initial inability to listen to reason and wisdom offered up by the sage elder he is selling his truck to (Keith David - Platoon, Crash, There's Something About Mary) annoys.
The film goes exactly where you'd expect it to go ... nothing more, nothing less ... except for a most-unfortunate scene from FORMERLY respected film-vet Dennehy. :( ... yes, that's a sad face. If I could type tears, they'd be there too. -
erhanipekciler28 March 2021That was a really heart warming movie for me. Sometimes people choice their own way and how much you try to help, you can't succeed. In this movie one obsessed nerd tries to discover real world with an ex porn star. Some scenes are funny, some are sad but it was quite nice movie.
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MBunge7 August 2012This film is disappointingly good. Not because I would hoping it would suck and it didn't, but because it is fundamentally flawed in a way that all the positive things movie cannot overcome. This is a funny, sensitive story with fine performances and careful direction. It's also a tale that is structurally centered on one character while its emotional focus is almost entirely on another. The plot is all about a 17 year old kid who seeks out the 1980s porn star he's fantasized about for years. However, that harshly aged porn star is the only one writer/director Keith Bearden really cares about. It is her life and her struggle that are at the heart of this film, even though she's only a supporting character and the movie revolves around the mostly hapless teen. At the end of Meet Monica Velour, the viewer knows far more about the ex-porn star than the teen and understands her better than him. That's like knowing more about Fredo than Michael at the end of The Godfather II or more about Han than Luke at the end of Star Wars.
Let me try and put it this way. The teenager's obsession with the porn star is the most important thing in his life. Yet, the audience is provided with not one scintilla of explanation for why he's obsessed with this particular figure from X rated history or how he even discovered her. This motion picture is set in 2010, which means the kid was born in 1993. The porn star ended her career the better part of a decade before the kid was born and the better part of two decades before he entered puberty. How did he find out she ever existed? And what is it about her that commands his pre-adolescent brand of adoration? I'll admit the former is primarily a pesky little plot detail that others might not care about. The latter is at the core of who this kid is, how he got to be that way and why he does the things he does. No matter how otherwise well written or performed the role, and both are nicely accomplished here, this is a character with a gaping void where his humanity should be. He's a puppet through which Bearden and actor Dustin Ingram show off their considerable talents, but that's all.
In addition to Ingram, Kim Cattrall as the ex-porn star and Brian Dennehy as the teenager's grandpa are quite enjoyable to watch and their characters do have a bit of historical and personal depth to them. Even the smaller parts like Daniel Yelsky as a neighbor boy, Jee Young Han as the girl the main character should be lusting over, Keith David as the wise man who enters the teen's life and Sam McMurray as the ex-porn star's ex-husband feel like living human beings. There's not a question is my mind that you could leave almost everything else the same and if you concentrated the story on Cattrall's character and cast Ingram in a supporting role, this would have been a vastly better and more entertaining film.
If Keith Bearden had only directed someone else's script, I'd be very interested in seeing more work from him. He does that good a job telling this story. That's he's the one who came up with this out-of-whack screenplay, however, gives me pause. I'd still be interested but I'd want to know what other people thought of it before investing my time and money. If you're a fan of any of the actors here, you might like Meet Monica Velour. Even though there's a lot of skill and talent evident in this production, I can't say anything better about it than that. -
pegleg-583-7450016 January 2013I have to admit, I only watched about thirty minutes of this, and was STILL left waiting ...I have never even actually left a review here before now. This movie was so dry in those thirty minutes that I was compelled to sign up, receive my e-mail confirmation, create an account...just to tell everyone how poor it was. Like many newer independent films, it lacks any sense of ambiance, fails to establish characters or even give us any reason to care about them. PLEASE filmmakers.... is it too much to ask for you to compel us to watch your creation anymore?
as for Brian Dennehey, you are an icon...if you need the work, I have a deck that needs to be built. My only remark is to "say no" once in a while. You are still relevant, don't ruin it. -
JimmyCollins21 September 2011So here i am wandering through my local video store looking for something good to watch and i stumble across Meet Monica Velour, judging from the cover and the description on the back i was expecting the usual silly sex comedy, boy was i wrong.
Meet Monica Velour is exceptional, at times hilarious, at times awkward, at times heartbreaking. And it is all thanks to a fearless performance from Kim Cattrall, she is just down right amazing as this extremely damaged character. Never have i seen her better, she is as much this character as she is Samantha from SATC. The fact that she can immortalize a character such as Samantha and then do something completely different like this is the making of a truly great actress, and also a shamefully under-rated one.
The story is wonderful, the super nerd of a small town finally gets the chance to meet his favourite porn star only to realize that her life is very different than what he imagined it would be, cue a friendship like no other i've seen in film. After i realized that this movie was totally different than what i thought it was going to be i then had the though "oh this is going to be a sappy feel good story", wrong again, this is a totally original story that doesn't have a scrap of cliché at all.
I hope this movie finds a wide audience, its so deserving, Kim Cattrall needs to be in more great movies like this...... She's so great to watch.
See it, you'll love it....... ;) -
Let's say you're tired of slack-brained comedies dealing with mature subjects the prepubescent way. Let's say you've watched your fair share of raunchy comedies with heart and are now just looking for the "heart." And let's say you want a film that doesn't sacrifice performances for writing or vice-versa. You may want to listen up here.
Keith Bearden's Meet Monica Velour is a mature film about a mature subject, which is coming-of-age and entering reality after being confined to a fantasy that one has developed over a long period of time. It centers around Tobe (Dustin Ingram), a shy seventeen year old who has an undying fascination with classic movies, music, and pornography. He lives with his cantankerous grandfather (Brian Dennehy) and his best friend is only twelve years old. But the person he loves more than these two combined is Monica Velour, a sexy porn star who made a living doing seventies exploitation flicks. Tobe's deep fascination with the woman only increases because she has faded into complete obscurity, no longer acting and not leaving any traces behind.
When Tobe discovers the one and only Monica Velour will be appearing at a strip club, he makes the long commute to not only meet her, but also sell the only car he has - an bulky van with a gigantic hot dog attached to the roof. When he finally arrives at the strip club, the woman he sees isn't quite who everyone would label attractive. Monica (Kim Cattrall) is now an aging, deeply unhappy woman, juggling child-custody, a deadbeat boyfriend, her uncompromising and somewhat-regrettable legacy, and constant ridiculing for her life choices. Tobe is still undeniably starstruck when he meets the woman, and strikes up a friendship after he is assaulted at the bar by a group of thugs.
The biggest problem with Monica's relationship with Tobe is that Tobe lives in, what appears to be, another reality, one where Monica is still the incredible porn-goddess she once was and where problems can be fixed by ditching life's current situation in favor of what looks to be a long-term solution. Monica views Tobe's decision-making as reckless and lethal to her stability, but can't shake the thought that he is a young, starstruck soul with more of a voice than most of the other kids his age. It's that conflict and the enormous age difference that makes their relationship thrive.
Cattrall is a wise choice for Monica. She is the right amount of sexy for the role, but she is also the right amount of brains and intelligence as well, as she plays Monica with a sense of helplessness but also bravery. Here's a woman that has been broken numerous times, and here she stands, beaten, torn, and clearly roughed-up. But she's not giving up; she's too powerful for that.
Ingram plays Tobe effectively too, humanizing what could've been the most stereotypical, unlikable nerd. Rather than making him insufferably quirky and unrealistically inept like, say, his doppelganger Napoleon Dynamite, Bearden turns the character into a likable man with a real heart and wit to his strange, socially awkward nature. He's not all skin and quirks, and the movie actually gives him a firm leg to stand on.
Meet Monica Velour is, uniformly, a quiet film. The film moves quickly, but not too quickly as to where it is easy to forget. The ethics and choices of the characters demand contemplation (even if some - including the climax - seem to be a bit forced), the commentary it includes on the porn world outside of the STD-craze is noteworthy, and the cinematography and locational beauty of the entire project is, at the very least, nicely displayed throughout the course of the film. Throw in great performances from Cattrall - who may be giving her career-worthy performance here - and a nice introduction into film from Ingram and you have a winning film.
Starring: Dustin Ingram and Kim Cattrall. Directed by: Keith Bearden. -
MovieHooker18 October 2010Although some of my colleagues were a bit shocked by the subject matter I was extremely satisfied with this dark comedy film with feeling. It was truthful yet entertaining (mostly due to the Cast & heartfelt writing). Dustin being a newcomer allowed me to believe this was a real boy struggling with the issues of growing up under his slightly unusual circumstances. Kim Cattrall was wonderful and her chemistry with Dustin was unbelievable! I would love to know if she and he were long time friends and she had something to do with choosing him as Tobe. Brian Dennehy was strong yet short lived in this film. I believe there could've been an entire movie in itself based on POP-POP and TOBE'S relationship and home life. (Maybe an HBO Series). Ha! I'm very excited that Kim has shed the "Sex In The City" suit for a more "real" dark character and with a new star on its way in the form of Dustin Ingram, this movie will be a long lived tribute to his start (although he has plenty of younger Disney & Nickelodeon credits). I highly recommend going and seeing it in April 2011 when ANCHOR BAY is supposed to release it nation wide! And don't let the taboo of the word "Porn Star" keep you from enjoying a delightful movie about young love and maturing in a current world of motherless and fatherless households with our children being raised by the media. Please support this work of art written and directed by Kieth Bearden.
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katrinetro21 May 2011I really enjoyed this movie. It's got lots of heart, a rare thing today without getting schmalzy, good laughs and smart and to the point writing. Without doubt the best part is Kim Cattrall's performance. She's never been this good, or even close. She totally looses herself in Monica Velour. It's a Streep quality job. There's an Oscar buzz already on some blogs and shockingly, I think they're right. But apart from that, I'd say this movie is one of the most real movies I've seen. The characters are taken off the street, their dreams and realities are like the ones we all share. It makes me think - why aren't there more movies like this out there, movies that make us sit back and look at our own lives and say hey, I don't need to lose twenty pounds or be a superstar, I can just be me.
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mike_moor12 August 2011A gem to watch. A master piece of artistry that not many movies portray. It comes with solid acting and portrays some harsh realities of the direction life can go in. You just can't help to feel sorry for Monica who is masterfully portrayed by Kim Cattrall. The good acting and storyline does an excellent job at capturing your attention and has a moving story to tell. Some situations are just downright too un-imaginable or bizarre which makes it really comical, providing a good laugh.
It started out a bit slow but once the plot is underway it is a gem of a story to see unfold. -
FiveHundredFlicks31 August 2011At sometime in your life you've either met, wished to have met, been or wish to have been Monica Velour, a film which captures life's beautiful tragedy, beautifully.
Perhaps you know a Monica and maybe you're a Tobe but have heart, it'll all work out fine in the end.
If you don't recognise any part of yourself in this excellent film then chances are, eventually, you will. Either that or you're incapable of recognising Bathos, Pathos or any other of "life's Musketeers"
Kim Cattrall is still hot, more so without all the SITC polish but special thanks must go to Brian Dennehy for certain .. aspects ..of his performance. In between poking out my mind's eye with an imaginary fork, I'm reaching for the eye bleach.
Thanks, Brian....
9/10 Monica Velour is an instant classic. -
JohnRayPeterson11 November 2011With a title like 'Meet Monica Velour', one can almost be assured of some sleazy raunchy plot of a scenario and gratuitous nudity. One would be wrong; well there's some, not much, partial nudity but it is absolutely necessary in the context of the story. The storyline summary in IMDb is as much as needs to be said unless you are prepared to deal with the real and more lengthy story. The full story is much more in depth than what is superficially conveyed by the title; a better choice for a title could help this nice story to find an audience and reassure the viewer that the movie is not raunchy or sleazy. I decided to watch it because I often take a non conventional approach to picking movies; seeking gems, I watch a volume of films which inevitably means I will see duds and crap before I find those gem that make it all worthwhile. 'Meet Monica Velour' is almost one of those gems, not quite but as close as it comes to the real thing. That makes it worth a view. Why? For all the following reasons:
Kim Cattrall shows that she can act, oh yes, no kidding; she is giving a performance she can be very proud of. Before this movie, I thought of Kim Cattrall as an actress who only did commercial stuff where she is a character of low morality to say it nicely, and where little acting skills were required. Here she plays a person of low morality in a way of course, but one who is honest, caring and loving while having to show the struggle of a former porn star with some brain and what she must endure later in life. It is a beautifully done piece of acting as you'll ever see; she is completely believable and garnishes sympathy from a stunned viewer like me. I dare anyone to find a smart review that says different. Then there's Dustin Ingram, who plays the main character and acquits himself with equal savvy; his character is brilliantly well depicted. There are several sweet moments and as many realistic down to earth, "real life' moments that deserved good acting and these two actors delivered. A young director by the name of Keith Bearden now has a showcase for his portfolio and one he can be proud of, both for the directing and the script. -
mihai-3623413 October 2018Great film. It's definetely like an Artsy European film, not an american one. I shows some parts of reality/life exactly like they are. With real problems, real life and human imperfections. A nerd - coming of age kid and a former porn star with a kid in a custody battle. It's a very nice story - interesting to watch. A lot of interesting characters.
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jilllitwin2 August 2011Kim Cattrall flexes her acting muscles in a whole new direction with much success in this surprisingly original film expertly written and directed by Keith Bearden. Dustin Ingram is the ideal combination of nerd and charm as Tobe Holbert, while Brian Dennehy is fun as Tobe's father (aka "Pop Pop"). Keith David provides a breath of fresh air from all the quirkiness as Claude, an amiable and wise character. I saw this at an opening in Chicago which was attended by Dustin Ingram and included a Skyped interview with Keith Bearden post-showing. I was delighted to find that Bearden is just as much of a cool character in real life as the ones he created for the screen, while Ingram maintains a genuine sweetness and vulnerability. Meet Monica Velour is definitely a well spent 98 minutes.
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onpapertrail17 June 2017Meet Monica Velour is important because it plays off many American anxieties about sex, which may as well be a four-letter word in American society. Sex workers are invisible in this culture, hardly seen as people, let alone portrayed as complex human beings with lives outside from their current/former job. Second chances are hard to come by and second acts are even harder to pull off—and also taboo to talk about. So here is an endearing, smart film, about Monica Velour, a former Miss January, evoking all this and more, not didactic at all, and with all the markers of a cult classic.
The basic plot: Tobe (Dustin Ingram) is lanky nerdy-but-hot tall drink of water, "unconventionally" handsome young man, who lives with his granddad and finds out his triple-X celeb obsession/idol, Monica Velour (Kim Cattrall) is performing a rare live show at a skin parlor some states over. The graduate, no other life direction in mind, answers the call to adventure by taking his grad present (a frankfurter truck) and setting off to both sell the truck and woo his woman. You know, the kind of open-ended epic in the Campbell follow-your-bliss style—a little like a spiked version of Little Miss Sunshine, another film I love. As others have noted, the opening credits sequence is *incredible* —a visual feast full of puns and double entendres—and sets a high bar that the film mostly meets.
Tobe's affection for Monica is good-natured, almost innocent; he lovingly maintains his treasure trove, scrapbooking-as-craft and vision-boarding, the purity of his intentions/ idealization of sex in general (and, to be sure, Monica in specific) beaming out of his pores. Tobe's gravitation to Monica (as opposed to "someone his own age") is almost natural given his "old" soul, which is something perhaps mainstream audiences don't understand. He's going after windmills and we root for him because it's more devotion than lust that motivates him.
Monica turns out to be more tarnished and tired than perhaps Tobe or any "real life" man would want; her starpower and earning potential is on the wane, as she inevitably marches toward her next status an aging woman in a superficial society. Monica's role is written with depth and with no apologies for her past or current life, defying stereotypes and victimhood—she's a 3-dimensional character. Cattrall plays her really well, down to facial minutiae. My favorite moment of hers has got to be when she says, rejected after applying for a conventional job at a beauty parlor, "God, you screw a few hundred guys and the whole world turns against you." That's our unforgiving culture in a nutshell, but the film doesn't sermonize or even "take sides" between Tobe and Monica: sympathetic to both, we're just being let into their star-crossed worlds for a little while.
Tobe's idea that he can "help" or "save" Monica gets its rightful interrogation; and Monica's problems with receiving help and her jadedness in the face of genuine romance are also honestly portrayed. The drama comes when Tobe cannot reify Monica any longer— when he must process what his love is, what it's really made of, and who he really is, upon meeting this real person with her own life.
I would say this is a dramedy more than a comedy, and a travelogue as well. The humor (especially if you're going off of the trailer) can seem Woody Allen-esque at times (the "sexy Star Wars" clip featured has been compared to "Sleeper"), but it's more than that, and not as imitative as that comparison would let on. It's a dry, absurdist humor, a little snarky, sort of like Juno (but perhaps lower-key). Despite the titillating appearance, the film is more about, yes, coming of age than sex or anything else.
"Coming of age" is a phrase that has different meanings to different people, but here it means learning about love. Sex is easy. Appreciating someone for who they really are—that's hard, and one of the lessons Tobe learns: not to put women up on pedestals, but not to swing to the other extreme either. Rather, the challenge, for all of us, is to continue to trust love, rather than get disillusioned by the prospect of being with someone who is not cosmetically 'perfect' or (even) conventionally 'desirable.' The heart wants what the heart wants, and we should be so lucky as to serve it. This is our life's work. Tobe's heroes' journey just involves some porn—who are we to judge?
Visually, the film is lovely as well, rich in interesting shots, pops of color, and spot-on costuming. I really love the rich material culture this film inhabits, its use of "high" and "low" art alike, to get us (in a very subtle way) to question whether pornography can't be artistic as well—if it can't activate agape as well as eros.
So, if you can relax (or look past) our culture's hang-ups about sex, this is a fine little fable about relating to people, seeing them for who they are (and not who you want them to be), and growing into yourself. I want to emphasize that the film is not smutty or vulgar, but very-lighthearted—the only time I cringed was when Pop- pop (Brian Dennehy) dipped his boiled egg in a shot of Pepto-Bismol— and ate it. That was disgusting.
Sex is a healthy, natural, wonderful, and fun thing, and we should embrace it there's just not enough sex-positive media out there, let alone any film that takes on "nontraditional" love in a sincere, open-minded, sweet and smart way.
"Sex" is a three-letter word. Meet Monica Velour is a gem.
Protip- Get the DVD as the commentary is very interesting, as are the deleted scenes. And because you'll want to slow down those opening credits. -
vip-danii14 November 2016Wow, I was surprised to see such a strong performance by Kim Cattrall. She has proved herself to be a talented and versatile actress; not a shadow of Sex and the City's Samantha Jones here - she totally owned the role of Monica. I'm surprised she isn't getting more work; I'd love to see more of her in serious roles.
This is much better than I can say for her Sex and the City co-star Sarah Jessica Parker, who isn't capable of portraying anyone other than Carrie Bradshaw, and all the movies she has done were rubbish, yet somehow she gets more recognition. That's so lame.
Spoilers:
I was hoping for a happy ending... INVOLVING Monica, but all we get to see is Tobe getting together with the chubby girl. I guess there was no other way to end the movie that would be reasonable, but I was still a little disappointed. It is implied that Monica does well with the 5 grand Tobe gives her and with getting her kid back, but still, it would have been better to actually SEE it.
End of spoilers.
Despite the slightly disappointing ending, the movie was great altogether. A serious and thoughtful movie that's funny in all the right places. Massively underrated. A must-see for drama-lovers. -
Kim Cattrall has had a long career as a sex kitten, but despite having seen her in various vehicles over the years, I really only suspected she was deeper and more knowing than she lets on. We men have an instinctive love for her, I don't really know why, but I can tell you it's mysterious and unmistakable, almost as if she'd been bestowed some divine quality meant just for us. But maybe not, she doesn't seem to lack for female friends, or is that just an illusion? This little movie must have been pitched to her as a good way to say goodbye to all lingering sex kitten expectations. It's rough on her former image as an four-star temptress, but oddly enough, by its end, I think I liked her even more than I had before seeing it, and that's no small accomplishment. Does she look old in this? Yes, there are many unflattering shots. But, believe me, they serve the story and they serve it well. Halfway through I thought to myself, you can have your Meryl Streeps, I can't remember appreciating a performance as much as I did this one. I was enthralled and it felt almost as if it was all meant only for me. How can that be?
I'm not sure how to express what it's about. She's a washed up porn star living in a trailer who meets her greatest fan, a 17 year old geek played beautifully by Dustin Ingram. This is not a perfect picture, I'm not sure what ordinary women will make of it, but it tries for something so real and familiar to so many men, it deserved much more praise than it got. And I for one think her fellow actresses must harbor some envy for the sheer indelible nature of her performance here. Or they should though whatever she's got, for the most part they have little chance of beating it. -
thebigbang99113 August 2011Looked at as a whole, Meet Monica Velour is missing some key elements that would make audience members walk away saying, "Wow." The cinematography reminds me of riding in the car with my 85 year old grandfather when I was a kid...it feels like you're not even moving. The director seems to have been too much of a rule-follower, as if he was following class notes in numerical order. However, the cast was wisely chosen and the poor technical issues of the film can be overlooked because of the commitment of the actors. It's possible to get lost in a story, to forget about the poor technical issues, if the story is well told - that's what happened in Meet Monica Velour. In particular, Kim Cattrall is so convincing in this lead role, so enveloped in this character, that one might begin to wonder if and why Hollywood shut her out so early. This film proves that they could have had another Meryl Streep on their hands, and they let her go. I'm certain the producers of Meet Monica Velour are thankful that they did.
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clopezjr19 May 2019Interesting movie. The word that comes to mind is bittersweet. I break down movies into 3 parts. The beginning was a tad bit slow. The middle was good but the ending was the bittersweet part. You knew how it had to end but still. And it did end, no real unanswered question. I like it. Your thoughts?
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cekadah25 August 2012a touching film of a struggling disenchanted-with-life ex-porn star and a young boy facing the realities of becoming an adult.
this movie shows how the dreamy ideals of youth have little or no base in the daily realities of living. in pursuing your dream you are bound to get hurt - but along the way someone's life may be changed, changed for good or bad, as long as you remain true to the feeling in your heart.
i greatly enjoyed this movie and would gladly watch it again and i will be suggesting it to others. each actor does a fine job portraying their character and the soundtrack is a delightful addition into how the male lead thinks.