Variety

The combination of Kathy Acker as writer and Bette Gordon as director should have signaled a potent brew, but sadly what we get here is a brilliant idea cut down savagely by the film's low-budget budget. Tracing the seedy, crime-ridden porn theater world of Times Square in the early 80s from a what was a post-feminist perspective should have pushed the boundaries of what could be explored in feminist cinema but here the effect is to disengage the viewer from the convoluted action. Every technical aspect from the sound to the acting feels shabby and weak and frankly underwhelming but there is an underground post-Factory (Warhol not WalMart) passion at work that just about saves this oddity. Acker's polemical script presents feminist intervention/investment in the patriarchal world of pornography with some gusto and ambiguity at times but eventually the direction dilutes itself in a haze of revisionist sexual politics, thanks to the inconsequential scripting and unfocused lensing.

Bette Gordon's independent psychological thriller, written by feminist superheroine Kathy Acker, is a stunning noir experiment set in the sex shops of 1983 Times Square. A signifcant film about sexual difference, desire, and gaze. Watch it. And be sure to pay attention to the scenery of 1983 Times Square. It's a different world, aeons ago.

An intriguing tale on loneliness and obsession, "Variety" takes on human frailties and vulnerabilities and how circumstances can drive these beyond one's control. A young woman in New York City lands a job in a booth as a ticket seller in a pornographic theater. The sights and sounds of the environment pique her interest until a chance meeting with a regular draws her into a spiral of stalking voyeurism.

The backdrop of Reagan-era Manhattan adds an urban aesthetic to this dark tale. Lead actress Sandy McLeod's willowy features add an air of vintage innocence that fit perfectly to the character's role. And boy, did porn actresses look good back then. The natural beauties of yore far outdistance the current crop of tattoo-ridden plastic-injected hermaphrodites from hell that constitute the smut industry nowadays.

This is your classic slow burn flick and it's one that seems to go on forever. While it would have been better if half an hour was taken off to give it more punch the bare, quiet realism conveyed keeps it watchable as if one is the voyeur staring into this young woman's life.

One of those films that isn't anything outstanding but somehow leaves a subtle and undeniable mark, "Variety"'s exploration into the neon alleyways of the big city's throbbing pulse and memorable female protagonist stirs and moves a haunting aftermath that lingers long after the final credits roll in. Quite the see.

Christine (Sandy McCloud) is desperate for employment to the point where she accepts work selling tickets at a porno theatre off of Times Square. As expected some customers give off a creepy aura, though she accepts the invitation of one well heeled, mysterious gent's invite to a game at Yankee Stadium. The porno theatre environment meanwhile begins to have an effect on her, disturbing her boyfriend and spurring her to stalk the mystery man.

Variety is a lurid crock in search of an edge, but it's all location, location, location under neon on 48th street with a cast, crew and script ill prepared to mount a production. Most of the performers sleepwalk through their roles with McCloud's dense and dull lead insipidly gullible, her tailing skills amateurly obvious.

Bette Gordon's direction falters in nearly every department with anemic performances, disjointed storyline, overlong scenes and sloppy camerawork while talking dirty to you. Pounding her misandrist theme home she does offer up some provocative anecdotes from some minor players who look and sound like they've been around the block but with the leaden and lifeless McCloud in the lead Variety becomes an ordeal made to endure. A complete waste of time.

I've works at the flagship Krispy Kreme in Time Square, during the graveyard shift in COVID. That will probably be the closest my generation will ever get to a NY of this film. Gritty, but with absence of character! Grindhouse, B-movies, and exploitation films all have their starts to thank for in the theater district of Manhattan. Cinephiles must give flowers to the films that deserve their recognition in encompassing a world so few films would dare harp on, the subject matter of this film has a strict stance on either focusing on the male gaze or completely inverting it, and the film dose the latter. This film shows how 42st was structured chaos, a world which only legit street hounds could survive in. This world exists no longer, and for that reason, as historical guide this film is 10/10!