King Cobra
- Director: Justin Kelly
- Writer: Justin Kelly
- Producer: Marla Lynn Brandon; James Franco
CGiii Comment
What is there to like about this story? Absolutely nothing...Porn. Greed. Murder...oh and a whole host of gay stereotypes.
Sean Paul Lockhart a.k.a. Brent Corrigan...must be mightily displeased, he comes across as a manipulative, bare-assed brat who would anything (and everything) for money...oh, he did!
James Franco - insufferably - continues with his gay obsession...quite frankly Franco, it has all become treacherously boring.
For a film about the porn industry it is remarkably impotent...the problem? The writing. It is as flimsy as a dehydrated wet-wipe. The actual murder, the planning and execution takes a few fleeting minutes...and, quite franky (Franco) you would be hard-pressed to have any sympathy for the victim - a grotesque pederast. As for the perpetrators...Cuadra and Kerekes received life sentences without parole...although the film fails to mention this fact.
Corrigan - as a witness for the prosecution - walked away - a free, manipulative, bare-assed brat. Ready to launch himself into the mainstream...thankfully, success - in this arena - has been a slippery pole to climb. The final [unnecessary] scene of King Cobra is an affront to Corrigan's 'career'...obviously, Justin Kelly has issues with the bare-assed brat!
Perhaps...if this film had concentrated on the actual court case (with flashbacks), a far sturdier film could have been made...of a sickeningly sleazy story. As it stands, King Cobra is as unpalatable as it is unpleasant.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
This ripped-from-the-headlines drama covers the early rise of gay porn headliner Sean Paul Lockhart a.k.a. Brent Corrigan, before his falling out with the producer who made him famous. When Sean decides he'd be better off a free agent, a cash-strapped pair of rival producers aim to cash in by any means possible.
IFC Films & Sundance Selects
A distributor of independent films and documentaries, IFC Films falls under the AMC Networks umbrella. Also under this umbrella are IFC Midnights, which focuses on horror and thriller films, and Sundance Selects, that distributes independent films, documentaries and foreign films. The company’s most successful and critically acclaimed LGBTQ-inclusive films include the drama Weekend (2011), about two men starting a relationship right before one of them must leave the country, and the acclaimed but controversial French lesbian drama Blue is the Warmest Color (2013). In 2015, among their inclusive releases were the documentary Do I Sound Gay?, Match, The Duke of Burgundy, and Jenny’s Wedding. Last year, IFC released King Cobra, a murder mystery drama set in the world of gay porn.
Cast & Characters
James Francoas Joe;
Molly Ringwald as Amy;
Christian Slater as Stephen;
Sean Grandillo as Caleb;
Alicia Silverstone as Janette;
Keegan Allen as Harlow;
Garrett Clayton as Sean Paul Lockhart / Brent Corrigan;
Spencer Rocco Lofranco as Mikey;
Cabrina Collesides as Restaurant Patron;
Rosemary Howard as Nosey Neighbor;
Rene Vettese as Restaurant Patron;
Edward Crawford as Tyson;
Ron Simons as Hardy;
Keith Leonard as Detective Bradwell;
Joseph Baird as Blake Savage