King Cobra

Could've been a good film based on a true story but a poor script and weak acting ruined it. Cute guys kept me going but that was about it. Best bits were in the trailer.

This movie is rated too low on IMDb. It's worth about a 7.5 It tells the true story of the murder of a gay * producer (played by Christian Slater). There are two story lines. The first is about this * producer and a new star (Brent Corrigan, played by Garrett Clayton). Brent stays at his place and together they have fun making some hot movies. But then they have a falling out when Brent finds out how much is being made from his films. The second is about two mentally unbalanced losers (Joe and Harlow) who hang around at the edges of the * industry. They want to make a film with Brent, but decide that they have to kill the * producer because he's not allowing Brent to use his trademarked * name. I loved how this film dealt so naturally and explicitly with gay sexuality and with the gay * and escorting aspects. The sex scenes were depicted with relish, but without genitalia. (After all, this is an American movie.) The depiction of stereotypical * situations and dialogue and was hilarious. At times the real world in the main movie seemed disturbingly too close to the * version of reality. These characters were so immersed in * that they were leading * lives. Part of me wishes that the director (Justin Kelly) had focused on creating just a feel-good movie about the gay * industry, about gay escorting and about gay sexuality in California. This alone would have been a great film (or hell even better -- a Netflix series). He could have developed various interesting characters and just drawn the viewer into this sexy world. Kelly partly succeed in doing that in this film. But I had problems with some of it. Where were the drugs, for example? No drugs at all?? The dysfunctionality of the characters was also a major theme. I wish there had been some normal gay men in the film, because yes we still need to show that in a film like this. I thought the * director and Brent parts were well played by Slater and Clayton. However, although Clayton is a stunningly handsome man, in this movie he didn't really generate the same erotic heat as a sleazy 18 year old * star. The movie would have made more sense if they had found someone who can do that. I liked how the * producer was torn between desire and greed when it came to Brent. He wanted Brent's love, of course. He wanted Brent to want him. Or at least to pretend that he wanted him. He was an older *-producing lech, but there were a few perceptive lines in there about his motivation and he came across as a sympathetic character. The dysfunction of the Joe and Harlow characters got in the way for me. I found some of their scenes to be difficult and awkward to watch. Perhaps that was the point (because after all they were psychos). After just watching the film, I feel I still don't have a good understanding about the underlying forces that drove them to murder. Maybe the problem is with the basic plot. The murder was so senseless. Tbh, I think the movie would have been better without Franco (because...c'mon). This is the second movie I've seen this year in which the difficult relationship between * producer and actor was central. (The other was Tickled.) These movies also have something to say about * itself, how it can take over people's lives and ruin them.

Well-produced but how much is true? Brent Corrigan disowns the film. Apparently his only contribution was to agree to the use of his name. The ending, with declarations of love and Ave Maria on the soundtrack, was over-the-top. (viewed 3/17)

It can be an introduction to * industry. Or nice mix of sex and crime. Far to be bad, it is just a superficial film, with not special story, having more the mark of James Franco obvious fascination for subject , giving , as consolation prize, the presence and decent work of Christian Slater and Alicia Silverston. So, the only sin remains a posible high expectation about King Cobra.

KING COBRA is a fast-paced movie tracing the real-life events in the life of Brent Corrigan, a gay * actor who was illegally performing under age, and who got all tied up in a murder mystery story. I got into this movie naïvely, not actually knowing anything about the history of the true events, not even knowing that James Franco and Christian Slater were involved!— and I was pleasantly surprised. As to be expected given the premise, there is a lot of male nudity... All throughout the movie exudes a sense of hedonism—one gets the impression that the whole cast had a lot of fun making this little movie. The acting is really good throughout and the main actor, Garrett Clayton, does a good job as appearing "twinky" while also being believably serious when it is called for. James Franco's character is quite reminiscent of his role in SPRING KILLERS. The real life story of what actually happened surrounding Brent Corrigan is truly compelling, which makes for a good plot. The progression of the story is well executed, but perhaps the ending was a little abrupt. All in all a fun movie. So, go and watch KING COBRA—it's not a masterpiece, but certainly a great little diversion, with a few genuine suspense moments.

Much scenery chewing from Franco and Slater. No resemblance whatsoever to the actual Brent Corrigan or Cobra Video. Save your time and watch a Corrigan porno instead.

Writer/director Justin Kelly created this script with co-author D. Madison Savage based on an article about a * star and murder. The film has merit but slides into tedium by resorting to gay stereotypes despite the character roles being portrayed by a fine set of actors. The tale is the career of Sean Paul Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan and Fox Ryder) played by the talented Garrett Clayton who at age 17 began making gay * with Los Angeles filmmaker Stephen/aka Bryan Kocis (Christian Slater) using the name Brent Corrigan. The films were very successful financially and "Brent' (claiming he was 18 years old) became lovers with Stephen, the owner and director of Cobra Video. Brent became famous, wanted more money, left Stephen who had an exclusive contract with Brent, only to discover he could not perform using the name Brent Corrigan as that name was the property of Cobra Video. Brent reveals he was only 17 years old when working and filming with Stephen. This news threatened Stephen's livelihood and presented Brent with the opportunity to join another set of filmmakers - Joe/Joseph Kerekes (James Franco) and his other star Harlow/Harlow Cuadra (Keegan Allen). Stephen's attempt to halt Brent's making films with Joe and Harlow ended in a murder that became famous in the California courts. To say more would be a spoiler. In addition to Christian Slater, James Franco, Garrett Clayton and Keegan Allen, the cast includes small but key roles by Alicia Silverstone and Molly Ringwald. The filming of the * scenes is convincing without excessive exposure and the manner in which the director moves between the two lover couples balances the story well. Little is written about the * video market and this film opens some insights into that industry.

I have to say that this movie was much better than I expected it to be. I suppose I went to see if Garrett Clayton could pull off (no pun intended) playing Brent Corrigan and I felt that he really nailed it (no pun intended). I actually would have been satisfied just to see him in the flesh, as Steven (Christian Slater) remarks at the beginning (was there a pun intended?) and I would have been disappointed if there wasn't enough of his fabulous self on display. In this respect I suspect that many the targeted audience share my hopeful expectations and I would assure them that I wasn't disappointed, though obviously this was a film about * films and not actually a * film. However I was pleasantly surprised that I found the movie generally entertaining and that the people I saw it with...... really I should say gay men I saw it with.... found that there was plenty to discuss after we saw it. I have no idea how accurate it was and I know nothing about the director, couldn't care less about Franco's sexuality. Reviewers here have complained that it wasn't sordid enough but I think one could assume that at least two of the totally unhinged characters were 'perhaps' using controlled substances so I'm not sure we needed to actually see them ingested. The two characters I refer to were very nearly played for laughs, until the very, very real violence that, considering that this was based on a true story, did not come as a complete surprise. And then the cheesy faux Schubert that accompanied their denouement sort of put a black comic cherry on top. Others have complained that it doesn't portray the full spectrum of gay life. Well.....duh? I have just seen eight films at NewFest (The LGBTQ film festival here in NYC) and I wouldn't rank this at the top of them, but then again I wouldn't rank it at the bottom either. And last week I saw "Moonlight" and , though I expect I will be dodging pitchforks for saying this, I don't think it was all that much better than King Cobra. For those of you expecting thrilling action I should warn that this story played more like "In Cold Blood" than "Boogie Nights". I was surprised that the story wasn't sensationalized more, though perhaps it was and I'm just too jaded to see it. It certainly wasn't a movie to take your mother to, however. Finally, I want to say that, although the entire cast did an excellent job, Clayton really stole the show.... and it was a lot of fun hearing him shout out the last line!