So, with Steven Soderbergh stepping away from film sets to pursue other endeavors, whose going to replace him as the cinematic chameleon to follow? Well, how about Michael Winterbottom? In the past few years the Brit helmer has gone from scuzzy noir “The Killer Inside Me” to comedic road trip series “The Trip” to an India-set Thomas Hardy adaptation “Trishna” to an intimate character study with “Everyday.” And now, his latest is a biopic on smut king and real estate baron Paul Raymond. Like we said, the guy doesn’t like to repeat himself.
A new trailer for the film has arrived giving a look into the world of erotica Winterbottom has put up on the big screen. Steve Coogan takes the title role of the pornographer, strip club owner and impresario who managed to accumulate a fortune of close to £650 million (or just over a billion dollars) after buying up property in the central London area of Soho. Anna Friel and Imogen Poots, also feature, with the former playing will Raymond’s wife Jean, and the latter his daughter Debbie, who died of a heroin overdose in 1992.
“The Look Of Love” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and unfortunately, our man on the ground was not impressed. “These vapid characters aren’t people we want to root for, let alone spend much time with… it’s hard to be absorbed and care when the selfish, narcissistic lead was always hollow and soulless at his core. There’s nothing tragic about Raymond. He’s just pathetic,” he wrote in his review.
The film opens in the UK on April 23rd and later this year in the US via IFC Films. Watch below.