Popular reviews

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  Review by matt lynch ★

  A major embarrassment, especially from a provocateur like Russell, who defaults to some really boring stereotypes, corny fourth-wall stuff, and outright prudish moral handwringing. (Theresa, the other) Russell's doing all she can with some really dire material, but it's nowhere near enough. The most old man-ish movie to ever get an NC-17.

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  Review by KYK ★★★ 2

  Ended 2023 with Theresa Russell undercover cop sex worker movie.
  Started 2024 with Theresa Russell actual sex worker movie.

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  Review by Justin LaLiberty ★★★ 1

  it says a lot about a filmmaker — both in terms of provocation and talent — when their minor work is an NC-17 film titled Whore that features plentiful fourth wall breaks, colorful language and a cameo by Danny Trejo as a tattooist; wild that anyone could have categorized this as a drama as it’s pretty clearly a comedy or, at the very least, some type of dark satire, with Russell firmly in Crimes of Passion mode even if it’s never as biting as that film and Teresa Russell just doesn’t have near the screen presence of Kathleen Turner

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  Review by Ziglet_mir ★½ 6

  The best aspect of this film is it’s direct response to the magical, sensationalized Pretty Woman. Everything else is pretty schmaltzy and Theresa Russell, while gorgeous to look at, hams it up so much as a hooker with attitude it nearly ruins the film. The performance feels like something a more amateur actor would be inclined to hand in, as opposed to someone like Russell who had a reasonable string of roles in the 80s (based on what I’ve heard, I haven’t seen them).

  It’s not just Russell either, with the glorious exception of Jack Nance (She’s dead… and wrapped in plastic!), the ensemble falls into being uncharismatic or trying too hard to no avail. Elizabeth Morehead who plays Russell’s…

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  Review by Gala Avary

  Saw this at the Los Feliz 3 with Timnado -- full crowd sold out show. Had an awesome night -- my car getting locked in the parking lot was the cherry on top. Tim and I ended up standing on the street corner having a good laugh pretending I was Theresa Russell at 1AM while we waited for my dad to come pick me up. I'M A GOOD WHORE, I GO WHERE I'M KICKED!

  Better than Crimes of Passion.

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  Review by Chip ★★★★★ 1

  I am certainly in the minority thinking this is Ken Russell's best work. I am also certainly in the minority thinking this is Theresa Russell's best work. As the only, and I mean only, letterboxd user to have this in their Top 4 favorites, I want to take a moment to talk about what is close to one of, if not, the best movies ever in my opinion.

  There is no other work of art surrounding the hazards, joys, and depressions that sex workers deal with and rationalize on a day-to-day basis. Theresa Russell is untouchably good in this, and Ken Russell directs her to perfection. From the opening scene to her flashbacks to the idle camera monologues.

  I've touched…

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  Review by Will Sloan

  Deserves its reputation as a bit of a disaster in a lot of obvious ways, but I’ll tell you something else: it held my attention.

  Further thoughts here.

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  Review by Jesse Snoddon 2

  "Let's face it, nobody is there for the chicken"

  Ken Russell's anti-Pretty Woman, Whore, follows Liz (Theresa Russell), a sex worker navigating a never ending parade of men ranging from pathetic to menacing as she tells the story of how she wound up where she is. 

  When you hear 'Ken Russell making a film to refute Pretty Woman', you may be bracing for a deeply uncomfortable, hard edged experience. Though there's no shortage to her shocking and disturbing experiences, the movie is too cartoonish and campy to be seen as anything but a comedy. Its success or failure will hinge on whether or not you think it's acceptable to joke about the kind of things Liz goes through. Personally, I…

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  Review by Adam Nayman 1

  Lair of the White Worm on the movie theatre marquee during the most notorious sequence; insert shot of a copy of “animal farm” being thrown into a fireplace; monologue with yo-yo; truly awful last scene in every sense of the word; memorable, if nothing else.

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  Review by kat🕷 ★★★★ 1

  A surprisingly captivating movie, nothing like what you might dread based on the title. On the contrary, it's perhaps the finest version of what you could hope for with a name like this. It stands as the ideal counter-program to "Pretty Woman", demolishing every sugary cliché about this profession.
  "Whore" lays bare the dark realities: abusive clients, ruthless pimps and a complete absence of genuine love or affection. It's not a voyeuristic experience or porn; rather, it sheds light on the dehumanizing plight of streetwalkers. It also delves into their fragility, dependence, and the near-impossibility of escaping to a "normal life". A criminally underrated dramedy by Ken Russell.

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  Review by Jerry ★ 5

  >Russellmaxxing

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  Review by teamgal ★★★ 1

  WHORE's caustic view of male sexuality is probably just too on-the-nose to provide much pleasure to audiences raised on bullshit canned eroticism. Although its spokesperson is female, Ken Russell's WHORE is a film about men and what it is that they think about sex. There's nothing subtle about it, it's even abrasive in its post-modernism, but one has to give it credit for at least tackling a thorny subject head on. Not as successful as his earlier CRIMES OF PASSION, most probably because Theresa Russell is too edgy an actress, lacking the kind of warmth that Kathleen Turner brought to that earlier LA-set sex flick.

  Ken Russell, ranked