Love Ranch

Movie
Original title	Love Ranch
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	2010
length	117 minutes
Age rating	FSK 16
Rod
Director	Taylor Hackford
script	Mark Jacobson
production	David Bergstein Lou DiBella Taylor Hackford
music	Chris P. Bacon
camera	Kieran McGuigan
cut	Paul Hirsch
occupation
Helen Mirren : Grace Bontempo Joe Pesci : Charlie Bontempo Sergio Peris-Mancheta : Armando Bruza Bryan Cranston : James Pettis Gina Gershon : Irene Scout Taylor-Compton : Christina Taryn Manning : Mallory Gil Birmingham : Sheriff Cortez Bai Ling : Samantha Rick Gomez : Tom Macy Leslie Jordan : Mr. Hainsworth MC Gainey : Warren Stamp

Love Ranch is a 2010 American drama film directed by Taylor Hackford . It is based on the story of the first legally operated brothel in the US state of Nevada . The main characters are portrayed by Oscar winners Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci .

action

In the early 1970s, the married couple Grace and Charlie Bontempo ran the "Love Ranch", the first legal brothel in the US state of Nevada . Both are getting on in years; their marriage has lasted for 22 years. The constant clashes with Christian conservatives who want to close the brothel and ban such establishments have welded the couple together. The smart Charlie always has new ideas to get into the media and gain fame and acquaintance. When one day he helps the Argentine boxer Armando Bruza in a casino in Reno and helps him pay off gambling debts, a new coup seems to be in store. Charlie plans to have Bruza fight a buildup battle in Reno that would make him eligible for a match against Muhammad Ali . For tactical reasons, Charlie registers Grace as Bruza manager. While Charlie is cheating on his wife with the prostitutes living on the ranch, Armando Bruza and Grace slowly get closer. Instead of the initial aversion to the muscular South American, there is a growing interest in the significantly younger man, who for his part tries to rekindle a fire in the resigned older lady with southern charm. When Grace receives a cancer diagnosis from her family doctor and learns that she only has a few months left, she grows in the desire not to spend the remaining time in the gray everyday life of her marriage, but to give in to the attraction of the boxer. In the Bontempos marriage bed they both spend their first loving hour. The boxing match Charlie planned actually takes place. Bruza takes heavy hits from the head before he can beat his opponent. After the fight, he immediately lets Grace drive him to a hospital, where he is put into an artificial coma. Grace learns from the attending physician that Bruza shouldn't have boxed under any circumstances after a serious skull operation. When Bruza is released from the hospital, he and Grace decide to leave the ranch together and move to California. In the meantime, Charlie, who is involved in Mafia business, has found out about his wife's love affair. With a trick he succeeds in luring the boxer to the ranch one last time. When Charlie and Grace argue in front of the ranch gate, Bruza interferes, whereupon Charlie draws a gun and shoots the boxer. The present sheriff of town quickly thrusts a gun into the dead boxer's hand to make it look like Charlie acted in self-defense. In fact, Charlie is acquitted in the murder trial, but the brothel has to be closed a short time later when Grace hands over the unclean business books to the police and the couple is sentenced to imprisonment for it. Grace is serving her two years; Charlie escapes to Brazil before he is arrested. Thanks to a new type of radiation therapy, Grace lives on much longer than her doctor predicted. After her prison sentence, she founds a new "Love Ranch" based on the plans of her husband, whom she never met again, in which women who were already working on the old ranch also work.

Historical role models

Joe and Sally Conforte, operators of the Mustang Ranch in Reno, served as historical models for the somewhat edited story . The final scene of The Great Coup was filmed near this ranch ; owner Joe Conforte appears as himself in a cameo in that film.

Sally Conforte's lover was the later world-famous Argentine boxer Óscar Bonavena , who actually boxed against Muhammad Ali.

German production

The German version was produced by TV + Synchron Berlin .

criticism

“A morality painting that is completely committed to the retro look in the detailed furnishings as a swan song for an era, which, however, lacks expressiveness. The actors are hardly challenged. "

- Lexicon of international film

Web links

• Love Ranch in theInternet Movie Database(English)
• Love Ranch atRotten Tomatoes(English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ York Times
2. ↑ Love Ranch. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .