While out dancing one night with her best friend, Patsy, Linda attracts the attention of a man named Chuck Traynor and the two soon develop a relationship after a vulnerable Linda reveals to him that the relationship with her parents is strained. The strain was caused because Linda had earlier given birth to a son out-of-wedlock and her domineering mother Dorothy had tricked her into putting the baby up for adoption.
Chuck, much older than Linda, begins teaching her how to perform sexual acts, which she is initially thrilled about. After breaking curfew one night, Linda is berated by her mother Dorothy; forcing Linda to move out so she can live with Chuck, later marrying him. During a party, Linda watches one of Chuck's homemade pornographic films for the first time and tells him that good girls never do things like that.
Six months later, Linda bails Chuck out of jail for facilitating prostitution, although he claims to have had little knowledge of what went on in the parking lot behind his bar. Desperate for money, he persuades Linda to become a porn actress. By 1972, Linda begins working on a film, Deep Throat, in which she uses her new stage name "Linda Lovelace".
The movie becomes a huge hit, making over $30,000 at the box office in its first week. After it becomes a worldwide phenomenon, Linda is interviewed by a variety of print and radio reporters and becomes the subject of late-night television humor. Her life is seen as exciting and glamorous, and Linda poses nude, and attends parties, weekly.
During a private screening in Los Angeles, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner convinces Linda that she has the potential to be more than a porn actress. However, Chuck's violent and cruel nature is gradually exposed and Linda's life is revealed not to be as perfect as it seems. Chuck seemingly chokes Linda during sex, refusing to stop when she asks, and later forces her into prostitution at gunpoint.
A battered Linda soon visits her parents seeking to move back in. Despite telling them of Chuck's dominating abuse towards her, Dorothy encourages Linda to endure her ordeal as their religion forbids divorce. When learning that Linda has been discussing a new salary with the movie's director, Gerard Damiano, without telling him, an enraged Chuck punishes her by making Linda shower in freezing cold water.
Years after Deep Throat's success, Chuck tries to persuade Linda to do another porn film. When Linda refuses, a now sadistic Chuck takes her to a party and forces Linda to participate in a gang bang. Her attempts to escape result in Chuck sleeping on top of Linda, almost suffocating her.
The following day, Linda secretly meets with Anthony Romano, telling him she wants out of the porn business and also revealing the abuse inflicted on her by Chuck. Disgusted, Romano has her checked into a private hotel while he and his bodyguards attack Chuck for abusing Linda and for the $25,000 he owes.
Six years later, Linda marries Larry Marchiano, moves to Long Island and has a young son. Linda later takes a polygraph test before publishing her autobiography Ordeal, which details years of Chuck's physical and sexual abuse, as well as his stealing all of her earnings. Linda appears on Donahue, and her distraught parents break down in tears while watching her. A few days later, the Marchianos travel to Florida for Linda to reconcile with her parents.
In January 2011, pregnant Kate Hudson was offered the part of Linda Lovelace while James Franco was in talks to portray Lovelace's husband Chuck Traynor.[10] The production of the film was planned to begin after the birth of Hudson's child and as of April 2011, the actress was still involved in the project.[11] However, on November 1, 2011, Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard were reported to be in discussions to play Lovelace and Traynor.[12]Sharon Stone announced on November 16, 2011, that she would play Lovelace's mother.[13] In December 2011, Juno Temple and Wes Bentley were cast as Lovelace's best friend and Larry Marchiano, her second husband.[14]
To prepare for the role, Seyfried read Lovelace's books and studied videos of her speaking.[22] She also watched the film Deep Throat and underwent a New York accent training.[22] Seyfried said of Lovelace: "She was such a different person than what we expect. It's a good story to tell, and I'm really, really excited about it."[23] Brody prepared for the role of Reems by watching his interviews.[24] He told that "the arrest and indictment of Reems on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute obscenity across state lines" are not shown in the film.[24] He described as "brotherly" the relationship Reems shares with Deep Throat co-star Lovelace, explaining that "he was the antithesis of her husband [Traynor]".[24]
Filming
We were doing a scene where I was supposed to be going down on Peter Sarsgaard. We used a popsicle, and I had my arms covering the popsicle. It was footage that he was going to show the Deep Throat guy, to get her into the movie, to get her cast. I was laughing hysterically throughout. I couldn't stop laughing.
Epstein used "grainy" 16 mm film as a reference to the 70s films depicted in the plot.[31] During the filming, the cooperation between Seyfried and Sarsgaard went so well that she called him with hindsight "the best actor I've ever worked with".[22]
Post-production
Sarah Jessica Parker's scenes did not make it into the final version due to the time setting for the end of the film being changed from 1984 to 1980. As a result, the role of Gloria Steinem became unnecessary.[32]
Lovelace was met with mixed reviews. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 129 reviews with an average rating of 5.68/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Amanda Seyfried and Peter Sarsgaard do their best with the material, but Lovelace lacks enough depth and conviction to truly do its fascinating subject justice."[35] The film also has a Metacritic score of 51 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[36]
Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote the film was "smartly done". Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, commenting that it "never really feels triumphant or inspirational. It's very well-made and well-acted, but it's a reminder that the most famous porn star of the most famous porn movie ever made was a victim through and through."[37] On the other hand, Variety's Rob Nelson complained the true story behind the film had been simplified to a "series of cartoonish vignettes".[38] Amanda Mae Meyncke endorsed Seyfried's portrayal as "excellent" but considered the film all in all only "mediocre".[39]
Historical accuracy
Doubts were also raised as to the historical accuracy of the film's narrative.[40] In particular, Gerard Damiano Jr., son of the director of Deep Throat, and Eric Danville, Linda Lovelace's biographer, spoke to The Rialto Report about how the film conflated spousal abuse with the treatment of actors in the adult film industry.[41]
Music
The soundtrack to Lovelace was released on September 9, 2013.
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