The Trailer:
Cast: Steve Coogan, Imogen Poots, Anna Friel, & Tamsin Egerton
Synopsis: Paul Raymond (Steve Coogan) reflects on his life as an entrepreneur in the erotic arts and as a father.
Let me start by informing you that before watching this movie I had no idea who Paul Raymond was, but I was drawn to the movie due to the era and the burlesque-style of his shows that we see in the trailer. I was intrigued. After viewing it though, I don't really know how I feel about the movie.
First off, the acting is superb. Steve Coogan as Paul Raymond is perfection. Again, having no knowledge of the real Paul Raymond, I can only judge Coogan on his acting rather than on how accurately he depicted the real Paul Raymond. But he was awesome; he is charming, aggravating, a womanizer, a loving father, an absent father, all of it. And Coogan is able to genuinely capture all those characteristics into his portrayal without it seeming forced. Imogen Poots, who is so adorable, was awesome as Debbie Raymond, Paul Raymonds doting daughter. I had only seen her in That Awkward Moment, which I can safely say is probably not her best work, but even in that movie she shined. And in this film, she shone even brighter; she has the emotional depth to easily pull off a complex character such as Debbie Raymond who is insecure and kind of child-like yet also confident and driven to achieve her dreams. Anna Friel as Jean Raymond, Paul Raymond's ex-wife is a wonder as well, though she was only present in the first thirty minutes and again in the last thirty minutes. She didn't need any more time than that to leave an imprint; she was warm at first, despite Paul's incessant cheating, and then cold later after Paul leaves her and especially at the devastating end of the movie. As a viewer, I felt her anger and heartbreak. Tamsin Egerton as Amber then later Fiona Richmond, the homewrecking, spritely muse to Paul Raymond is fantastic as well. She is first bubbly and fun and outrageous, but quickly becomes weary and drained as she realizes Paul's inability to change for the sake of their relationship. Like Imogen Poots, she is an actress that has the emotional capacity to really reach in a become a multifaceted character. All are remarkable at portraying their characters and I applaud them for it.
While the acting is good, the movie itself is a little wonky. It starts off great, introducing us to Paul Raymond and the work that he does while showing us that he is also a husband and father. And so it conveys that the entirety of the movie is going to be about his life, a biopic. But then, around the forty minute mark, when Debbie, as an adult now, comes into the movie, it kind of becomes about their close father-daughter relationship. And yes, obviously, that is a crucial part of his life and should be included in a biopic of him, but this relationship somehow becomes the focal point of the movie and never veers back into being just about Paul Raymond. And because of this development, the second half of the movie loses steam, fast. It loses focus. And on top of that, the movie spans about about thirty years, so it can be expected that some moments and events in Paul's life aren't going to be explored fully, but this movie literally explored nothing. Everything is so dermal, we never get to the meat and bones of this man. It's like we just have to accept that Paul Raymond is a womanizer and that he has a uniquely close relationship with his daughter without any real affirmations to show us so. It just didn't delve deep enough into the psyche or emotions of Paul Raymond. Adding to that— and this might just be me nit-picking— there is weird editing at the end of the movie that are choppily done and unnecessary.
The Look of Love is splendidly made and looks phenomenal throughout, it is just the indefinite way in which the story is told and the odd editing at the end that really lowered my fondness of the movie. Would I watch it again? Ehh, maybe.
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