Inside Deep Throat (2005)

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Yes. As titillating and naughty as the subject of "hard-core" porn may be - I found "Inside Deep Throat" to be a decidedly "soft-core" documentary, on all counts.Instead of being all wet'n'juicy - This was a very dry and sanitized presentation. And, all that it did was lifelessly chronicle "Deep Throat" from its production, to its popularity, to its cult-status, to its inevitable battle with the self-righteous censors.You know, I've actually seen 1972's "Deep Throat" some years ago - And, if you ask me - It was, pretty much, just tiresome, z-grade garbage that didn't deserve (even one iota) all the attention that it got (and still gets).The only reason why this laughable film (about a woman whose clitoris was in her throat) has garnered so much undo attention for itself all comes down to the negative publicity that it's generated.You can be sure - Without all of this negative backlash, "Deep Throat" would have remained just another piffle-of-porn that would have quickly faded away into obscurity faster than an average ejaculation.Anyway - I don't completely write off this documentary as being a waste of time. It does contain some worthwhile moments. But, if you're expecting "Inside Deep Throat" to be a real hard-core production, then you are in for a big disappointment - 'Cause it's, pretty much, 90% talk-talk-talk, and, perhaps, 10% action.

Inside Deep Throat really left me quite surprised, I must say. It takes the startlingly successful hardcore porn film, Deep Throat, and comments on its cumulative effects upon the American way of life (what started in the lower rungs of NYC soon spread across the country to theater chains thanks to the mob!), pop culture (nowadays scantily clad men/women are everywhere; sex sells), politics (obscenity laws pushed by Nixon's administration; eventually, Deep Throat male stud Harry Reems was tried (and convicted!) in a court of law just because he starred in the movie!), sexuality (oral pleasure and "clitoral pleasure" were awakened to a larger public who perhaps never experienced sex quite like it prior to Deep Throat's success), and human rights (feminism condemned how women were exploited as sexual objects; Linda Lovelace would later claim she was abused and worked in Deep Throat against her will). The hardcore industry, as narrated by Dennis Hopper (!), is covered in depth, and the history lesson runs until today; the porn industry under the microscope is primary treated respectfully, although today's industry is held in contempt by some of the interviews (like Norman Mailer!) for its lack of artistry and gravitation towards money as the sole reason behind its engine. Even the likes of Wes Craven (obviously not proud of his association with porn), Peter Gruber, and Gore Vidal comment on the hardcore industry. We learn the tragedy that would befall Lovelace who retreated and "retired" from the industry to raise a family, joined forces with a feminist to speak against porn, and later tried to capitalize on what little fame remained as a much older woman (she tried to go straight, but because of her affiliation with Deep Throat, working in any professional capacity seemed non-existent), eventually dying in a car in accident in 2002. Harry Reems' treatment in a court of law seems positively frightening. That he almost went to jail simply by having sex on camera for a theatrical audience seems too surreal to be true…but it almost happened! There's some explicit sexual acts shown, like Lovelace's amazing ability to deep throat Harry's erect member (it is the primary reason behind the title of the film and its marketability), and scenes that depict lovemaking in hardcore, but to have the industry as its subject and completely censor it from the documentary would kind of defeat the purpose of the fight against censorship, right? Reems comes off extremely likable and his candidness about descending into drugs and alcoholism when he went to LA to make it in Hollywood is admirable. How the mob was so intrinsically involved in the spread of the film (they would go to theater chains with an offer "owners shouldn't refuse") and highway robbery from the man who directed it (Gerard Damiano; also quite open and honest about the experience; he never made a dime from his work in the film!), not to mention, how little Lovelace made from the film considering her "performance" and face ($1200! That's it!) contributed highly to its success, says a lot about how the criminal element operate as outright thieves and bullies with very little involvement on an artistic level. I think what remains so compelling is how controversial and polarizing Deep Throat was (Damiano equated it to "opening a can of worms") to the mainstream, political, and public opinion.

The movie's poster does absolutely nothing for it as far as presenting it as a legitimate documentary about a real part of the American culture, but Inside Deep Throat is a well-made and highly informative look at the release of Deep Throat in the early 1970s and the tremendous impact that it had on American society, which was thrown into a massive uproar over the release of a micro-budget pornographic film. Produced by legendary producer Brian Grazer, the documentary features countless television clips from the 1970s which show how well-known it was. Whether or not people were offended by the material, it seemed that Deep Throat had become a household name, and everyone from Johnny Carson and Bob Hope to Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt provide their thoughts in this documentary. I particularly enjoyed how the term Deep Throat was worked into late night comedy shows and sitcoms back in the 70s, as well as the interview with Wes Craven, one of my favorite horror directors. Be advised that there is a graphic scene from Deep Throat included in this film, but other than that it takes itself very seriously. It is not pornography at all, it is only ABOUT pornography, and its level of insight illustrates how large the difference is between the two.

Is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, it isn't a porn movie. But it revolves around one, you see the prudes that America once was, and still is. We see the evolution porn made and the loses it made in the way, how the politics failed to close porn down.And how they again dismiss evidence in a case that is not good for there cause. We see the actual uprising of porn movies here, and see how it affects peoples lives. You can see how the mob does have a hand in everything in the porn business those days, how they dealth with people who don't listen. If you don't see this movie you will have misted up a really great thing.