Review of The Look of Love (2013) by Grant S — 06 Apr 2014

OK, but not profound or overly interesting. Directed by Michael Winterbottom (director of 9 Songs, among others), with the subject being a owner of nude bars and men's magazines, you'd think this would be quite gritty. Sure, there's heaps of nudity but it all just seems pretty conventional. It's like a step-by-step history lesson, with the history being not that exciting or controversial.

I was thinking this may be like a UK version of The People vs Larry Flynt, but the movie goes nowhere near freedom of expression/speech issues. There is no great moral, societal or political statement in this movie.

The ending was quite emotional though, and that maybe showed more of what the movie was about. But for the ending, there would have been no point to the movie. The ending shifts the movie from the "don't like" to the "marginally do like" category.

Great performance by Steve Coogan in the lead role. He uses all his comedic talents to deliver some great lines of dialogue, not all of which are meant to be funny, but which do give his character a warmth and relatability. Decent supporting cast too.