Directed by Scott J. Gill
Starring Ron Jeremy, Tabitha Stevens, Veronica Hart, Larry Flynt
Pornography used to be such a taboo subject to discuss, even in documentary form. Many of the early, and most current, documentaries on the subject aren’t true documentaries. They are just light discussions of the subject matter with many long cutaways to nudity. Basically they are created just for the sake of titillation. These kinds of films give the documentary a bad name. The only other type of film related to the subject are news type documentaries that are cautionary tales
I didn’t really know what to expect when I popped “Porn Star: the Legend of Ron Jeremy” into my DVD player. Would it be another simple bit of titillation or would it be a cautionary tale of the horrors of the porn business? The only thing I did know was that it is released by a company, Docurama, that typically releases quality documentary films. So, I had hope for something different.
The Movie
First off this film isn’t really a documentary about pornography. It’s more of a character study of a man who is one of the most successful in the business, Ron Jeremy. The film follows Jeremy through what is approximately two years of his life, following him on trips and to shoots, as well as interviewing his family, friends, and people in the business.
The film opens at 4 a.m. after a long day of shooting. Ron is embarrassed and admits he wants to kill himself. This isn’t serious, it’s all tongue and cheek, the ramblings of an exhausted porn star after a long day. The rest of the beginning of the film tries to establish him as a normal guy with an abnormal job, and for the most part does this successfully.
While it seems that Ron is happy with his life he isn’t satisfied. The parts of the film that aren’t spent covering his past, his work, or his relationships are spent showing Ron in his desperate search for mainstream acceptance. He has taken many small, almost “extra” level parts in films and done many skits on television comedies. Many of his parts in mainstream films have been cut when the Director discovered that Ron Jeremy is a porno star.
The film delves into Ron’s past and covers how he ended up performing in adult films. We learn that Ron comes from a highly educated family and that he himself holds a Masters Degree in education. Ron actually taught school for a couple of years before he decided to give it up to start a career in acting. He worked in off Broadway plays for a while before he made his way into adult films.
Jeremy is quite an oddity in the adult film industry for a couple of reasons. Perhaps the most surprising thing that makes him stand out is that he has no drug or alcohol related vices. The other thing that makes him stand out is his appearance. He’s heavy, hairy, and regarded as quite unattractive. This would normally be enough to get him kicked out of the industry except that his looks are what gets him his fans. Many male fans feel that he is like the “every man” of porn. He doesn’t have big muscles and model good looks. He represents his fans. They feel that if he can get some, then so can they. That doesn’t make a lot of since to me though. He “gets some” because he is in a business where woman are paid to give it to him and he’s in that business because of the size of his uh, well you know.
“Porn Star” made it into our “Alternative Cinema” category not necessarily just because of subject matter but also because of a substantial amount of full frontal nudity and of sex scenes from his various films. The sex scenes that are shown are only a little more graphic than what you might see on Cinemax after dark but they are more graphic than would be expected for a documentary film. Also worth mentioning is that the film covers much of the mythos around Ron Jeremy that we will not go into detail about here due to content. Suffice it to say that these bits of information are sexual in nature and must be covered in order to do an accurate documentary on this particular subject.
Cut between interviews and events are segments of old porn movies that Jeremy performed in. Most of these segments don’t involve sex, they are the segments where the “actors” actually had lines of dialog back when the Directors tried to build plots around the sex scenes. These scenes are usually hilarious. When they show these scenes of terrible dialog and mediocre acting inserted before an interview with Jeremy talking about his desire to be a serious actor everything that he has to overcome is painfully apparent.
Ron Jeremy may not have an addiction to drugs or alcohol but he does have an unhealthy addiction to fame. As much as his friends really seem to like him I found him a bit annoying at times with all his name dropping and promotion of himself in films where he does nothing but stand in a crowd. You have to admire his tenacity and his uh, work ethic. “Porn Star” is intriguing and hilarious at the same time.
8/10
The Video
Much of this film is made up of grainy old films and television appearances. The rest of the film is low budget digital video. The transfer however is well done and any issues with the video don’t detract from the viewing experience. Digital video is quickly becoming the standard for documentaries such as this that were shot over a long period of time and it looks fine.
6/10
The Audio
We have a basic audio mix here. But, it’s a documentary so most of the film is just people talking. A big time DTS EX mix is just not necessary. The soundtrack and interviews are mixed nicely with the dialog being easy to hear and understand.
5/10
The Bonus Features
There is an extensive set of deleted scenes that were pretty much all worth leaving in the film but had to be cut for time. One of the most interesting scenes involved a bit of history on Ron’s mother being a part of the CIA. Another scene that was rightfully cut was a segment of Ron hosting a nudist beauty contest at a ranch. This scene didn’t add to the story and it looked like edited footage from HBO’s Real Sex series.
Their is also a running audio commentary with the Director and with Jeremy. In the first few minutes Jeremy is very annoying talking over the Director only to promote himself and others in the film. The Director’s frustration with him is obvious at times. If you sit through the commentary it ends up being rather entertaining with both parties offering additional information about the making of this film and DVD.
Also available on the disc are trailers and a filmography and abridged list of Pornographic films. Not a bad mix of extras for a low budget documentaries. Other companies should take notice as the commentary is easy to add and in many cases essential in learning more about the making of a film. There’s not much reason for a documentary or low budget film of any type to be released without a commentary.
7/10
This documentary contains a lot of skin and frank talk about sex related topics. If that doesn’t bother you then this DVD offers a unique look into the world of the most successful male porn star ever.
8/10