Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal
By Marshall Fine
Rating:
Monday, July 21, 9PM, HBO
When former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss tried to open the Stud Farm, a Nevada brothel full of male prostitutes marketed to women, she let documentary cameras follow her. The film looks at Fleiss' bull-headed attempts to crack a well-fortified local market, which doesn't care for outsiders who try to take a slice of the pie. She barges into the small town with big plans but not nearly enough legal savvy or connections. But the film is even more revealing in looking at Fleiss as a person who has lived her life by avoiding emotional connections - by trying, in other words, to turn life into one long business transaction. But she's surprisingly transparent, despite her bravado, as a vulnerable, even pathetic woman who is struggling with both drug addiction and a lack of connection to anyone else. And then there's the matter of her horrifying plastic surgery, which turned her from a normal, attractive woman to someone with scary-looking lips. It's both a fascinating microscope into her soul and a portrait of a woman living her life completely in denial.
More Reviews
My Own Worst Enemy
Christian Slater plays a secret agent who has a split personality - and doesn't know it. His alter-ego has been programmed into him by the government!
Christian Slater plays a secret agent who has a split personality - and doesn't know it. His alter-ego has been programmed into him by the government!
The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Bravo sets out to prove that it's not just white women who can be simple-minded, materialistic and rich (or wannabe rich).
Bravo sets out to prove that it's not just white women who can be simple-minded, materialistic and rich (or wannabe rich).
Eleventh Hour
Hunky Rufus Sewell joins the growing list of British actors playing American cops - or cop-helpers. He's a mix of "Monk" and "House," playing an FBI scientist...
Hunky Rufus Sewell joins the growing list of British actors playing American cops - or cop-helpers. He's a mix of "Monk" and "House," playing an FBI scientist...
The Ex List
A fortune teller warns a young woman that she's already been involved with - and rejected - her soulmate and that she only has a year to find him back if she has any hope of romantic happiness.
A fortune teller warns a young woman that she's already been involved with - and rejected - her soulmate and that she only has a year to find him back if she has any hope of romantic happiness.
Life on Mars
Jason O'Mara plays a New York police detective on the trail of a serial killer. But when he's hit by a car, he wakes up to discover he's trapped in 1973. Is it a dream?
Jason O'Mara plays a New York police detective on the trail of a serial killer. But when he's hit by a car, he wakes up to discover he's trapped in 1973. Is it a dream?
Sanctuary
A team of scientist/adventurers track down other-dimensional creatures living among us.
A team of scientist/adventurers track down other-dimensional creatures living among us.
Kath & Kim
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair team up to play a single mom, Kath, who is upset when her newly married/newly separated daughter, Kim, moves back in and expects to be waited on.
Molly Shannon and Selma Blair team up to play a single mom, Kath, who is upset when her newly married/newly separated daughter, Kim, moves back in and expects to be waited on.
The Starter Wife
Debra Messing turns last spring's miniseries hit into a full-time series gig about starting over after divorce in Beverly Hills.
Debra Messing turns last spring's miniseries hit into a full-time series gig about starting over after divorce in Beverly Hills.
Ironic Iconic America
Wow - it's hard to imagine a show that covers more ground in less depth than this bizarre tour of America.
Wow - it's hard to imagine a show that covers more ground in less depth than this bizarre tour of America.
Californication
David Duchovny apparently went into rehab for sex addiction after shooting the second season of this outrageous, dark comedy series - in which he plays a guy who has trouble keeping it in his pants.
David Duchovny apparently went into rehab for sex addiction after shooting the second season of this outrageous, dark comedy series - in which he plays a guy who has trouble keeping it in his pants.
Dexter
Michael C. Hall plays a Miami police forensic scientist whose secret hobby is stalking and killing bad guys who have beaten the system.
Michael C. Hall plays a Miami police forensic scientist whose secret hobby is stalking and killing bad guys who have beaten the system.
Lipstick Jungle
The second season of Candace Bushnell's follow-up to "Sex and the City" starts with a twist: the three female pals giggling helplessly - at a funeral!
The second season of Candace Bushnell's follow-up to "Sex and the City" starts with a twist: the three female pals giggling helplessly - at a funeral!
Gary Unmarried
Jay Mohr has a knack for edgy comedy - but he seems out of his league with a domestic sitcom about a single dad coping with life after divorce.
Jay Mohr has a knack for edgy comedy - but he seems out of his league with a domestic sitcom about a single dad coping with life after divorce.
The Mentalist
Blond-haired, blue-eyed Simon Baker is a police consultant who seems to have psychic powers in this new cop-thriller.
Blond-haired, blue-eyed Simon Baker is a police consultant who seems to have psychic powers in this new cop-thriller.
Entourage
Sure, Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier) is ready to jumpstart his career - but just how easy is it to escape from "movie jail" and get back to work?
Sure, Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier) is ready to jumpstart his career - but just how easy is it to escape from "movie jail" and get back to work?
Worst Week
Based on a British sitcom, this new series deals with a guy who can't help but make an idiot of himself in front of his potential in-laws.
Based on a British sitcom, this new series deals with a guy who can't help but make an idiot of himself in front of his potential in-laws.
Coco Chanel
This dreary biopic plays like a weak soap opera, in which Chanel is just another spurned woman.
This dreary biopic plays like a weak soap opera, in which Chanel is just another spurned woman.
Sons of Anarchy
If you can turn a crew of New Jersey mobsters into TV heroes, how about a bunch of bikers?
If you can turn a crew of New Jersey mobsters into TV heroes, how about a bunch of bikers?
Do Not Disturb
Here it is: the season's first sitcom bomb. Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash star in an upstairs/downstairs sitcom about life in a fancy boutique hotel.
Here it is: the season's first sitcom bomb. Jerry O'Connell and Niecy Nash star in an upstairs/downstairs sitcom about life in a fancy boutique hotel.
True Blood
Take a bite of this hot, funny new series - set in an alternative Louisiana, where vampires have come out of the coffin because they've learned to curb their killer instincts.
Take a bite of this hot, funny new series - set in an alternative Louisiana, where vampires have come out of the coffin because they've learned to curb their killer instincts.
