As a growing teenager sex was always, there at the back of your mind and porn was restricted to magazines unlike today were its freely available everywhere. I was 15 years old before I saw moving pictures of porn and that was a revelation I remember not knowing what to do with myself nobody did so we just laughed and pointed. That was before videos’ at a mate’s house on a Super 8mm film projector while on the mitch from school.
Just watched the pilot for the new Sky Atlantic show ‘The Deuce’ and have to say looking forward to seeing more. I enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the '70s glitz; I have said it before I love the seventies. ‘The Deuce’ is a mix of the grim & seedy atmosphere surrounding Times Square, New York in the early-mid'70s.
From the 1960s to the early 1990s, Times Square was full of go-go bars, sex shops, peep shows, and adult theatres and crime was high in the process becoming an infamous symbol of the city's decline. It was still popular with tourist many not knowing what the area had become but City of New York decided to clean it up making it more tourist-friendly with family attractions and upscale establishments were opened.
James Franco plays identical twins Vincent and Frankie Martino. Vincent manages a bar on 42nd Street and strives to live as decent and ethical a life as possible, yet still strays into drug use and infidelity — although not as frequently as his wife, who leaves their two young children with a babysitter every night so she can hit the bars.
Frankie, on the other hand, is a scuzzball: an inveterate gambler with the moral compass of a jackal, who’s run up debts all over town, leaving his brother compromised by association and his business plans imperilled.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is Candy, an independent-minded prostitute who operates as a sole trader and doesn’t have a pimp leeching off her. She’s not quite the stereotypical hooker with a heart of gold; it’s not made of granite either.
In a grimly funny scene, she agrees to accept as payment a $50 personal cheque from the 18-year-old John she’s just serviced. It was a birthday present from his granny, he explains.
But underneath the curly blonde wig, the barely-there tops, the tiny miniskirts and the knee-high boots, “Candy” is really Eileen, who uses her earnings to take care of her young son, who lives with her mother in a nice suburb far away from the sleazy neon glare of Times Square.
The music is accurate but I struggled a little to stay interested for the first 15-20 minutes, but the stories simmer morphed into a slow boil as the relationship between the pimps & prostitutes, Candy (Gyllenhaal), the main James Franco character, and several of the working girls increasingly intrigued me.
I don't care for the college girl story so far at all, and there may be a few too many 'side' stories, which can be frustrating, at least for now. Certainly, the ending left me frustrated at not being able to watch more!
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