The Details

Love Ranch

Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Sergio Peris-Mencheta

Directed by Taylor Hackford

Rated R

From the Archives

Air Force Amy bares all at the brothel (7/1/10)

Beyond the Weekly

IMDb: Love Ranch

Rotten Tomatoes: Love Ranch

You might imagine a movie about legalized prostitution would at least hold your attention. But there’s a reason director Taylor Hackford (Ray) has the word “hack” in his surname. At least he cast his wife, Helen Mirren, who doesn’t embarrass herself as the good-hearted but strong-willed brothel madam (based on an actual ex-madam at Northern Nevada’s Mustang Ranch)—but that’s more than can be said for Joe Pesci, mugging and preening as her husband. And the less said about the anonymous hunk of beefcake (Peris-Mencheta) who comes between them, the better. Love Ranch traffics in soggy clichés, and every human interaction has been amplified to the point of cartoonishness. It makes even hookers seem dull.