[attach id=264407 size="medium"]Steve Coogan and his gals in The Look of Love.[/attach]
The Look of Love (2013)
Certified: 18
Duration: 101 minutes
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan, Imogen Poots, Anna Friel, Tamsin Egerton, David Walliams, Chris Addison, Shirley Henderson, James Lance, Paul Popplewell, Sarah Solemani, Stephen Fry
KRS release
The Look of Love chronicles in a very elegant fashion the rise of one of England’s richest persons in the 1970s: Paul Raymond. The film, that reminded me of The People vs Larry Flynt (1996), follows Paul (Steve Coogan) as he becomes the king of Soho with an empire based on property, gentleman’s clubs, adult shows, soft-porn magazines and media.
The film opens to a bewildered Paul who has just received the news that his daughter Debbie (Imogen Poots) has died of an overdose.
This leads Paul to think about his life, his past and the relationships he built over the years. Thus we see his views on his marriage to Jean (Anna Friel) and its subsequent failure, and his subsequent relationship with Fiona (Tamsin Egerton). It’s a story of excesses and highs and lows.
The Look of Love is a surprising film. I expected a fluff British comedy but instead I got a biopic that is stylish, snazzy and daring at the same time.
Director Michael Winterbottom, who delivered intense films such as Jude (1996), Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) and A Mighty Heart (2007), reunites for the fourth time with Coogan. But here he directs with none of the preachy or judgemental tone he is most known for.
Coogan is quite at ease wearing the porn king’s shoes and it is very easy to imagine him in the 1970s, walking down Soho. Rather than acting he brings attitude and this serves the film’s purpose well. The female cast gives some surprising turns. The trio of Poots, Friel and Egerton grace the screen in more ways than one.
The film has a hedonistic streak but when tragedy strikes, the overall mood changes. It glorifies sexual liberation but then casts a dubious slant on excesses when Paul is unable to shield his daughter’s life from spiralling into tragedy.
The Look of Love has an authentic 1970s look and proceedings are kept at a steady pace, helped in no small manner by the soundtrack that makes the era come alive.