Lovelace

***Lovelace*** is a 2013 American biographical drama film about porn actress Linda Lovelace, star of *Deep Throat*, a seminal 1972 film at the forefront of the Golden Age of Porn. *Lovelace* covers her life from age 20 to 32.[8] Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, the film was written by Andy Bellin and stars Amanda Seyfried , Peter Sarsgaard, Sharon Stone, Adam Brody, James Franco, Chloë Sevigny, and Juno Temple. The film had its world premiere on January 22, 2013, at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and opened in a U.S. limited release on August 9, 2013.

## Plot

In 1970, 20-year-old Linda Lovelace is living with her parents in Florida, having moved from New York. While out dancing one night with her best friend, Patsy, she attracts the attention of Chuck Traynor, and the two soon develop a serious relationship, after a vulnerable Linda reveals to him that the relationship with her parents is strained. The strain was caused because Linda had earlier given birth to a son out-of-wedlock, and her mother had put him out for adoption. Chuck is much older than her, and begins teaching her how to perform sexual acts, which she is initially thrilled about. After breaking curfew one night, Linda is slapped by her mother, Dorothy, so she moves out to live with Chuck, later marrying him. During a party, Linda watches one of Chuck's homemade pornographic films for the first time, and tells him that good girls never do things like that.

Six months later, Linda bails Chuck out of jail for soliciting prostitution, which he refuses to talk about with her. Desperate for money, he persuades Linda to become a porn actress. She soon begins working on a film, *Deep Throat*, in which she uses her stage name, Linda Lovelace. The movie becomes a huge hit, making over $30,000 at the box office in its first week. After it becomes a worldwide phenomenon, Linda is interviewed by a variety of print and radio reporters, and becomes the subject of late night television humor. Her life is seen as exciting and glamorous, and Linda poses nude, and attends parties, weekly. During a private screening in Los Angeles, Hugh Hefner convinces Linda that she has the potential to be more than a porn actress.

Chuck's violent and cruel nature is gradually exposed and Linda's life is revealed not to be as perfect as it seems. He chokes Linda during sex, and refuses to stop when she asks, and forces her into prostitution at gunpoint. Linda visits her parents to ask if she can move back, and reveals that Chuck has been hitting her. Her mother says no, telling her to go home and be a good wife, since she must have done something to deserve his abuse. When Chuck learns that Linda has been discussing a new salary with the movie's director, Gerard Damiano, without telling him, he punishes her by making her shower in freezing water.

When *Deep Throat* becomes a hit, Chuck tries to persuade Linda to do another porn film, but she refuses. He then takes her to a party and forces Linda to participate in a gang bang, again at gunpoint. She attempts to escape, but he catches her and sleeps on top of her to prevent her from trying again. The following day, she secretly meets with Anthony Romano, and tells him she wants out of the porn business, revealing the abuse inflicted by Chuck. Disgusted, Romano has her checked into a private hotel while he and his bodyguards whip Chuck for abusing Linda, and for the $25,000 he owes.

Six years later, following her divorce from Chuck, Linda marries Larry Marchiano, moves to Long Island and has a son. She later takes a polygraph test before publishing her autobiography *Ordeal*, which details years of Chuck's physical and sexual abuse, as well as stealing all of her earnings. Linda appears on *Donahue*, and her distraught parents break down in tears while watching her. A few days later, the Marchianos travel to Florida for Linda to reconcile with her parents.