The Look of Love is now showing at Manchester’s Cornerhouse – get your tickets here.
The Look of Love is, at first glance, a glamorous ride through the taboo history of Soho’s strip clubs, littered with drug-taking, champagne-swilling and topless girls.
However, Michael Winterbottom’s extravagant biopic of Paul Raymond – London’s first strip club kingpin – is more striking for its dominant father-daughter theme.
Steve Coogan, who worked with Winterbottom on his and Rob Brydon’s The Trip, takes the lead role and capably pulls off Raymond’s charismatic and controversial approach to life.
And his dialogue is littered with inevitable snippets of Alan Partridge, the character with whom Coogan has become synonymous, to add a light-hearted edge to the display.
This is no doubt brought out by the accompaniment of I’m Alan Partridge co-star James Lance, who delivers a delightfully dour performance.
As for the rest of the cast list, it reads like a who’s who of British comedy – David Walliams, Simon Bird, Dara O’Briain, Chris Addison and Stephen Fry all feature in some capacity.
And, as is expected with a film tackling this subject matter, there is plenty to keep the lads interested – Tamsin Egerton perfectly portrays her transformation from young working girl to the top of the food chain.
Raymond’s story is portrayed as a documentary-style film, watched by the man himself – it is a glamorous, no holes barred story, delivered in the form of an old man’s regrets.
His life was one of extravagance, but the film delivers constant reminders this can never last, all wrapped up in the inevitable distractions of owning and running a chain of nude bars.
Daughter Debbie’s life is mapped out across his years of excess, from school days to marriage and, finally, her un-timely demise.
Unfortunately, the film loses its way a little towards the back end, allowing the plot to get caught up too deeply in the unravelling of Raymond’s complex web.
However, the ever-present father-daughter theme swings back into focus and gives the film a much-needed kick up the backside.
The Look of Love won’t be remembered as a modern-day classic, but its interplay of glamorous excess, dry British humour and ‘family first’ morals combine to produce a captivating hour and 40 minutes on the big screen.
The Look of Love is now showing at Manchester’s Cornerhouse – get your tickets here.
Image courtesy of Film Four via YouTube, with thanks.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook
