The Pornographer (1999)

Simply Perfect

Better than most people think

What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

I have to admit I wasn't going to watch this film thinking it was another "Skinemax" softcore film (which I needed like I need a hole in the head) but after reading the storyline I decided to at least see what it was about. I'm glad I did. I am somewhat into film-making also (not porn) so anything about indie film-making grabs my attention. I think if this film had been filled with nudity or exploitative (as it could've been) it would've lost me and I bet many others as viewers. (As one-sided as it was I liked "Breast Men" but I thought the naked breast between scene were simply there to sale an unneeded skin factor). This was a real story. If you like this you may like another film like it called "Diary of a Sex Addict". While not as good as this it really manages to keep you on the edge of your seat considering what happens to the main actor. Also it's shot in video which was great for the narrative although it tried to be a bit exploitive but managed to not really go there.I know people who have been addicted to porn so watching this film (both of them actually) really spoke to me. Another funny thing is when enough people know you own a video camera, someone will always eventually ask you would be willing to make a porn film. Porn is a very powerful drug. I love the way DeGood looked at the camera when it came in the mail and the scene between DeGood and the lawyer. She really takes him to task about it, but the way the scene ended was great too because she didn't hate him she just thought what he was doing was really sleazy and broke it down to him. I also loved his reaction which was somewhat of shame but this was something he really wanted to do. Very well directed. Another thing was watching him get his girls for the films. I had a laugh about it somewhat considering this is almost similar to how indie directors of non-porn films try to get actors. The most quiet of us can become Mr. Marketer when it comes to getting talent for a project. It's a great film and considering all the crap I've seen it's memorable.

When I heard the title of this film, I thought that I was definitely going watch it and that there would definitely be a lot of nudity and sex. How wrong I was. This has got to be the worst porn film I have ever seen. Basically a guy who is interested in porn and he decides to help work in it. One day, he meets the perfect girl for his project. Unfortunately this girl does not want to be naked and people seeing her. That's probably one of the main problems, he goes on and on saying "you'll be fine". There is only one sex scene that I can remember where he is filmed by a porn star. The story is stupid, the sex scene is rubbish, and there's no decent nudity. Poor!

I saw this listed in my TV guide as playing at around 2:30 in the morning. It had no film synopsis, just "Film, starring Michael DeGood." Michael DeGood sounded like a porn star's name and it was named "The Pornographer" so I figured it was some low-grade porn flick. I didn't expect to watch it, but as I was flipping through channels late on Friday night I came across it and was immediately interested because of the fact that, despite its cheap "feel" and porn-film style, it was NOT a porn film and was in fact a very interesting character piece.It seemed to be a movie like "Taxi Driver" -- an examination of a morally degraded man unable to make contact with the outside world. DeGood is no Robert De Niro but he did come across as a very realistic person.Whereas "Boogie Nights" was an excellent satire/examination of the porn industry, "Pornographer" is more of a realistic examination of a porn addict and an average man. It's more honest than "Boogie Nights" through the fact that it's less stylistic and more raw and dirty -- more nudity, often appearing as if it's a porn film, but never losing sight of its goal.I liked the honesty of DeGood's character. He can't talk to women but he can watch a porn film and talk dirty to the screen. Somehow it seemed very real. A balding, average guy seemed to me the perfect choice for the character of Paul.Overall "The Pornographer" isn't as good as "Boogie Nights" but for my money it's more of an honest portrayal of a man rather than an industry. It's a really good character piece -- don't be deceived by the title!

This movie is hysterically bad. Complete with stereotypical characters, bad acting and a total lack of plot, this movie will keep you laughing for hours. My favorite part is when Paul (the "artistic" protagonist porno director) gets into a fight with a girl and then runs to his closet full of porno movies and tears it apart. Imagine the world's biggest hissy fit in a closet, and you've pretty much got the idea. Also enjoyable is the Spano character (the porno boss). Spano is happy and helpful one minute, cartoonishly vengeful the next. If this movie were good, it would star Mark Wahlberg and be called "Boogie Nights." Watch "The Pornographer" for laughs, watch "Boogie Nights" if you want to see how it should have been done.