Review of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) by Jim H — 09 Jun 2012
A punk rocker who has very little talent becomes a cult icon.
Netflix identified this film as a satire, and throughout most of the film, I tried to figure out what it was satirizing. I guess I can see it as a satire of our culture's gullible embrasure of fads, particularly fads that embrace the darker side of life: I can see bits of Kurt Cobain and the goth/punk movements in Corinne Burns and her followers. But if that was the film's subject, then I think there should have been greater attention paid to the fans and their foolish motivations for remaking themselves in Corinne's image. As it is, the film stays on Corinne and her relationship with Billy and the trials of stardom. But she strikes me as a thoroughly uninteresting character, most of the time acting like a petulant child and a hypocrite, claiming she doesn't "put out" but hopping into bed with Billy despite the lack of chemistry or feeling between them. If she's so willing to sleep her way to stardom, then how can she try to pass herself off as a feminist figure. Diane Lane's performance is solid; the mistake is in the character's construction by the writer and director.
Overall, this is an uninspired film, and the focus of whatever satire is there wanders and is imprecise.
This review of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) was written by Jim H on 09 Jun 2012.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains has generally received positive reviews.
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