This
is a biopic of Paul
Raymond, a British
entrepreneur who turned
various adult
enterprises into a
fortune large enough to
get him labeled as
Britain's richest man.
He started with strip
clubs, moved up first to
burlesque shows, then to
naughty theatrical
revues in the West End.
He branched into
publishing (Mayfair,
Club International, Men
Only), and
systematically converted
his cash flow into real
estate holdings, which
eventually got him the
title of "King of Soho"
after he acquired 60 of
the 87 acres of that
London district.
The Daily Mail covered
the high points of his
bio
here.
The movie pictures just
about every detail
mentioned in that
article linked above,
but that's just window
dressing for its
dramatic heft, which
comes from an in-depth
portrayal of Raymond's
genuine love for, and
over-indulgence of, his
daughter, Debbie, who
gradually was pulled
into his louche orbit of
non-stop fun, sleaze and
drugs. In the framing
story, an elderly
Raymond looks back on
his life, wonders if he
could have avoided all
his parental mistakes by
steering Debbie toward a
more sensible path, one
which would not have
resulted in her death at
37 from a heroin OD. The
old fellow seems a bit
weak in the
self-analysis
department, because the
film ends with him
seeming to repeat all of
the same mistakes with
his oldest
granddaughter. That
emphasized a point made
throughout the film,
that Raymond, although
basically a decent
person, never learned
from his mistakes,
having lost the love of
his life in the same way
he lost his first wife,
through a succession of
misbegotten adventures
with casual lovers, none
of whom he cared to, or
bothered to, hide from
the women he was living
with.
The film's treatment of
the big-time world of
sleaze is superficial
and overly glossy. No
rivals get strong-armed,
no public officials are
pictured taking
kick-backs, no feminists
protest the
objectivication of
women, and Raymond's
army of shifty attorneys
is left in the
background. Raymond is
pictured wandering
through London without
his usual retinue of
bodyguards. Picturing
all of that more
accurately would have
strengthened the film's
point that Raymond was
reckless to draw Debbie
into that world. But if
it lacks gravitas, the
movie is an easy one to
watch, especially for
male audiences, because
the styles are fun to
remember, because Steve
Coogan portrays Raymond
as a witty, charming
fellow, and because the
screen is constantly
filled with gorgeous eye
candy.
Nudity (the links lead
to comprehensive film
clips from Zorg):
Anna
Friel (as wife
Jean) takes a bubble
bath;
Tamsin
Egerton (as lover
and leading lady Fiona
Richmond) appears nude
in several scenes.
Neither of them offer
the full frontal monty,
but
many other women are
completely naked
and exposed in various
degrees of explicitness,
although "spread" shots
are generally shown in
suggestion only.
Sample
images:
