Traci's Big Trick

Cameraman Jane Waters does a crummy job of directing this "unauthorized biography" of actress Traci Lords, phony from start to finish.

Some famous actors who should have known better portray stereotypes of Adult Cinema figures, giving zero insight into the business. The soap opera story line is flat, and using her first "legit" (of age) project "Traci Takes Tokyo" as a hook is merely misleading.

So we have Jerry Butler doing a poor job as her agent, with his character's actions making no sense at all. NY greats Ron Jeremy and Sharon Mitchell as producer and distributor are uninteresting, with Ron insisting on throwing in his unfunny stand-up shtick at will. John Stagliano has a NonSex role as a Jim South type, again unrelated to reality.

Ending is terrible, as Traci is blissfully self-centered, the entire show giving her something of a bad rap. Viewed at a distance of three decades from when it was made and the scandal erupted, Jacqueline Lorians in the title role merely reminds me of how arousing Jacqueline Lorians is (and was) rather than suggesting Traci Lords at all.

Low-rent production has several scenes set in a limousine that are incompetently staged, with no illusion of being anywhere but on a studio set.

When I wrote my review in the past, it was from memory because I no longer had this movie. But last night I was lucky to find a copy for sale and grabbed it.

I forgot how much Traci Lords is vilified in this movie. She is made to be the ultimate schemer, and knew exactly what she was doing every step of the way. In fact, it was her "negotiation" skills that seem to give her most of her early work.

The names of everybody in the movie is changed, OTHER then Traci Lords. "Mr. Black" stands in for "The Dark Brothers". Dark Brothers was the production company that made Traci a star.

They work hard to make Traci out to be controlling, who only wanted sex and money no matter who was destroyed in the process.

But as far as the movie itself, it is one of the best I have ever seen that was shot on video. Unlike the current adult movies, this was made during a time when story and acting was important.

If you are lucky enough to find a copy, I suggest you get it. I classify this as "classic porn", and wish that they went back to this style of movie making again.

This is roughly an attempt by the video industry to tell it's side of the Traci Lords story. It starts with a young girl that knows what she wants to do, and how she wants to get there.

It shows the famous "Penthouse" portfolio in which she claims that she wants to get into porn. It then tracks her meetings with many of the actors and actresses (many play themselves) as she moved up the ladder until she became a superstar.

Jacqueline Lorians looks and sounds almost exactly like Traci Lords, and gives the performance of a lifetime in this movie. The only improvement that should have been done would have been to shoot it on film instead of video.