THE LOOK OF LOVE
***
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Screenwriters: Matt Greenhalgh and Paul Willetts - based on biographical material from, Members Only: the Life and Times of Paul Raymond
Principal cast:
Steve Coogan
Anna Friel
Tamsin Edgerton
Imogen Poots
Jennifer Ellis
Stephen Fry
Country: UK
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 27 July 2013
Oscar Wilde’s aphorism, “We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars,” is particularly apt in relation to the life of one of the most successful showmen in recent British history, Paul Raymond, who was also fond of quoting the saying. He made his fortune from realising early in his career that ‘men like looking at naked women.’ Michael Winterbottom’s, The Look of Love, brings to life the heyday of Raymond (played by Steve Coogan), from when he came to prominence in the late ‘50s after opening the Raymond Revuebar strip club in London’s Soho, through to the death of his daughter in 1992. By the end of this heady period, he owned so many properties in the West End, he was known as the ‘King of Soho.’
Raymond was a man who loved women, especially when they were naked, and he made a motza from shows that would be deemed ‘politically incorrect’ these days. His empire grew from revues like ‘Pyjama Tops,’ which was declared the worse show ever to hit the West End (but, thanks to the nudity on display, lasted five years!) and from his soft-porn publishing business. He had a fractious relationship with his first wife Jean (Anna Friel), dumping her for a sexpot called Amber (Tamsin Edgerton) who he eventually married and who became the face, tits and arse of Men Only, his most successful soft-porn magazine. However, it was only in his relationship with his talentless daughter Debbie (Imogen Poots) that he was able to develop any real, long-lasting love. When Debbie died from a drug overdose, Raymond was destroyed, becoming a recluse and shutting himself away in a penthouse in The Ritz, until his death in 2008.
Matt Greenhalgh’s script is well researched, throwing light on a period in swinging London when boys from Liverpool were able to make it to the big time. Raymond made a point of making it known that he was a great pal of the Beatles and that Ringo Starr had helped to design his rather palatial, but kitsch, apartment. The groovy ‘60s soundtrack is also terrific, as are the authentic production, make-up and costume designs. The lead roles are well cast and Coogan delivers a rather sad performance as a man who led a complex existence living out the adage that, ‘Where there’s muck, there’s money’. Mention must also be given to cameo performances by Stephen Fry, who plays a barrister, and the Little Britain duo, David Walliams as a rather weird vicar who hangs out backstage in the girls’ dressing rooms, and Matt Lucas, in a very brief scene as a Divine look-alike.
The Look of Love is not one of Winterbottom’s finest works, but it does take you into a world that some may remember and many are fascinated by. If anything, it shows how ‘money can’t buy you love’ - as the story unfolds and Raymond’s fortune heads for the stars, his personal life falls into the gutter. There’s an emptiness at the heart of this film that reflects, ultimately, the emptiness at the heart of Raymond’s life. One can only assume that this is exactly what Winterbottom was aiming for but, for the filmgoer, the experience ends up feeling a little bit empty, too.
Screenwriters: Matt Greenhalgh and Paul Willetts - based on biographical material from, Members Only: the Life and Times of Paul Raymond
Principal cast:
Steve Coogan
Anna Friel
Tamsin Edgerton
Imogen Poots
Jennifer Ellis
Stephen Fry
Country: UK
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 101 mins.
Australian release date: 27 July 2013
Oscar Wilde’s aphorism, “We are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars,” is particularly apt in relation to the life of one of the most successful showmen in recent British history, Paul Raymond, who was also fond of quoting the saying. He made his fortune from realising early in his career that ‘men like looking at naked women.’ Michael Winterbottom’s, The Look of Love, brings to life the heyday of Raymond (played by Steve Coogan), from when he came to prominence in the late ‘50s after opening the Raymond Revuebar strip club in London’s Soho, through to the death of his daughter in 1992. By the end of this heady period, he owned so many properties in the West End, he was known as the ‘King of Soho.’
Raymond was a man who loved women, especially when they were naked, and he made a motza from shows that would be deemed ‘politically incorrect’ these days. His empire grew from revues like ‘Pyjama Tops,’ which was declared the worse show ever to hit the West End (but, thanks to the nudity on display, lasted five years!) and from his soft-porn publishing business. He had a fractious relationship with his first wife Jean (Anna Friel), dumping her for a sexpot called Amber (Tamsin Edgerton) who he eventually married and who became the face, tits and arse of Men Only, his most successful soft-porn magazine. However, it was only in his relationship with his talentless daughter Debbie (Imogen Poots) that he was able to develop any real, long-lasting love. When Debbie died from a drug overdose, Raymond was destroyed, becoming a recluse and shutting himself away in a penthouse in The Ritz, until his death in 2008.
Matt Greenhalgh’s script is well researched, throwing light on a period in swinging London when boys from Liverpool were able to make it to the big time. Raymond made a point of making it known that he was a great pal of the Beatles and that Ringo Starr had helped to design his rather palatial, but kitsch, apartment. The groovy ‘60s soundtrack is also terrific, as are the authentic production, make-up and costume designs. The lead roles are well cast and Coogan delivers a rather sad performance as a man who led a complex existence living out the adage that, ‘Where there’s muck, there’s money’. Mention must also be given to cameo performances by Stephen Fry, who plays a barrister, and the Little Britain duo, David Walliams as a rather weird vicar who hangs out backstage in the girls’ dressing rooms, and Matt Lucas, in a very brief scene as a Divine look-alike.
The Look of Love is not one of Winterbottom’s finest works, but it does take you into a world that some may remember and many are fascinated by. If anything, it shows how ‘money can’t buy you love’ - as the story unfolds and Raymond’s fortune heads for the stars, his personal life falls into the gutter. There’s an emptiness at the heart of this film that reflects, ultimately, the emptiness at the heart of Raymond’s life. One can only assume that this is exactly what Winterbottom was aiming for but, for the filmgoer, the experience ends up feeling a little bit empty, too.