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| Reviews AILEO WEINMANN Filmcritic.Com Sean McGinnis (Michael Cunio) gets more than he bargained for when he rents Citizen Cum instead of Orson Welles' classic. Infatuated with gay porn star Johnny Rebel (Scott Gurney), McGinnis goes looking for love at Men of Janus, the production company where Johnny Rebel works. That's Janus, as in the Roman god of entrances and exits. Soon McGinnis is doing behind-the-scenes work for the adult male venture. Besides manning the camera, he also becomes Rebel's favorite fluffer -- the person who primes the performer to, um, get up for the task. But when McGinnis discovers that the object of his affection is only "gay for pay," as in straight off-camera, the fantasy begins to unravel. In flirting with darker themes of lust, The Fluffer falls short of pulling off a sharp-edged Boogie Nights for the gay porn industry. The promising light-hearted tone early in the film gives way to a half-baked indictment of pornography as the plot grinds slowly to a foregone conclusion. Rebel's sculpted looks thinly veil what becomes an increasingly ugly personality. Stripper girlfriend Babylon (Roxanne Day) is pushed to the brink in her struggle to cope with his drug addiction and generally abusive behavior. Meanwhile McGinnis' crush turns into full-blown obsession, becoming the moth drawn to a flame of superficial beauty. In an unusually strong scene, this drama plays out with Babylon performing a lap dance for lackluster McGinnis. Unaware of his relationship with her boyfriend, Babylon provides an awkward substitute for McGinnis's need to be near Rebel. It is a rare moment when the competing themes of erotica and drama complement -- rather than detract from -- one another. Drawing on his previous experience directing hardcore gay films, Wash West succeeds in satirizing an industry where appearances can be deceiving. Unfortunately, the bid to take The Fluffer to a more profound level of social criticism goes limp. "Even the boring people are interesting," McGinnis says of the gay porn biz, "because at least they're willing to take a walk on the wild side." But while the nuts and bolts of The Fluffer are interesting to watch, the overall machine they construct is, ultimately, somewhat clunky. In an odd footnote, Trev Broudy, who plays a newscaster in the film, was badly beaten in September 2002. According to the film's official site, the suspects have since been "charged with assault, attempted robbery, and commission of a hate crime." JAMIE RUSSELL BBC Updated 31 January 2002 Spoofing the gay porn industry with liberal amounts of camp comedy, Viagra, and Debbie Harry as a seedy club owner, directors Richard Glatzer and Wash West set out to make a far funnier version of "Boogie Nights". What they end up with is a movie that's not sure how seriously it wants us to take it. This story of unrequited love begins with our erstwhile hero Sean (Cunio) renting a copy of his favourite Orson Welles movie at the local video shop but inadvertently being given "Citizen Cum" instead. Intrigued by the skin flick and, in particular, the rippling muscles of star Johnny Rebel (Gurney), Sean hunts down the production company, Men of Janus (because "Janus was the Roman god of entrances and exits"), and signs up for some work in order to meet the star. But not only does Johnny turn out to be straight - "gay for pay" in industry parlance - he's also a complete bastard, using and abusing anyone he can get his hands on. Although the title might suggest otherwise - the fluffer is the person responsible for getting the performers warmed up for their stint in front of the camera - the movie is actually less interested in sex than the mechanics of desire. Trapped by his love/lust for Johnny, Sean is completely obsessed by a man who, from our vantage point, doesn't deserve any of the attention. But then, as the tag line of the porno movie within the film proclaims, "Love is hard!" Glatzer and West's entertaining film mixes comedy with a more serious, if slightly unconvincing, end message about infatuation. But that isn't to say the journey itself isn't fun. |
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| THE FLUFFER 2001 - USA - 94 min. - Feature, Color Director -Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland |
| Genre/Type -Comedy Drama, Erotic Drama, Gay & Lesbian Films Flags -Not For Children, Strong Sexual Content Keywords -pornography Themes -Actor's Life, Unrequited Love Tones -Melancholy, Harsh, Sexual Set In -Hollywood, CA Produced by -Fluff and Fold Release -Nov 16, 2001 (USA - Limited) DVD Street Date -Aug 20, 2002 Screen Formats -Letterbox for 16x9 TVs Aspect Ratio -1.85:1 (DVD) Studio -First Run Features DVD Sides -1 Cast Scott Gurney Taylor Negron Richard Riehle Deborah Harry Robert Walden Plot Synopsis The gay adult film industry is the backdrop for this drama focusing on Sean (Michael Cunio), a young gay man who is looking for a job in the movie business. While trying to rent a video of Citizen Kane, Sean accidentally brings home a video from Men of Janus Productions, an outfit that churns out hardcore porn movies with exclusively male casts, finding himself infatuated with Johnny Rebel (Scott Gurney), the film's hunky leading man. Sean lands a job with Men of Janus helping out the camera crew, but he soon finds himself serving a different function on the set - he becomes the "fluffer," who helps the actors "warm up" for their sex scenes. Sean is more than happy to be working with Johnny, but he soon makes the surprising discovery that Johnny is straight and only appears in gay porn because he can make more money than in heterosexual sex films. What's more, Sean learns Johnny has a girlfriend, Babylon (Roxanne Day), who works as an exotic dancer and is not enthusiastic about her lover's current career. The Fluffer was written and co-directed by Wash West, who previously shot and directed several hardcore gay films himself. - Mark Deming. All Movie Guide |
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