King Cobra
2016 American biographical crime-drama film about the life and early career of Brent Corrigan.
Directed by Justin Kelly.
Based on the book
Cobra Killer: Gay Porn, Murder, and the Manhunt to Bring the Killers to Justice by Andrew E. Stoner and Peter A. Conway.
Veteran gay pornography producer Stephen battles two rival producers over the rights to his underage porn star creation, Brent Corrigan, with deadly results.
The film centers on the 2007 murder of gay porn producer Bryan Kocis (named "Stephen" in the film and played by Christian Slater) by two aspiring producers (James Franco as Joe and Keegan Allen as Harlow) who wanted to buy out Corrigan's performing contract.
Cast
- Garrett Clayton as Sean Lockhart aka Brent Corrigan
- Keegan Allen as Harlow Cuadra
- Alicia Silverstone as Janette
- James Franco as Joe Kerekes
- Christian Slater as Stephen
- Molly Ringwald as Amy
- Sean Grandillo as Caleb
- Spencer Lofranco as Mikey
- Solenn Heussaff as Tehmina Kaoosji
- Jinri Park as Yoon Kim
- Sheree Bautista as Day Waitress
- Janice Hung as Nina Cuadra
In general, I feel let down by this movie. There were times it was witty, it was revelatory and relatable, it was biting, it was dark but sharp. There were times it edged near (or crossed into) camp and trite tropes, subjective didacticism, turns of over-wrought and cardboard-flat performances. There were times, to me, that the soundtrack did disservice to the story -- and changed the tone and experience of more than one scene.
Molly Ringwald? Christian Slater? Alicia Silverstone? Some of my favorite 1980s-90s-ever actors ... in this story? 'Yes, please!' I think. For the most part, they all turn in fairly solid to very good performances. Having them on-board and in these roles did have me interested.
Garrett Clayton was a bit hard for me to buy into, especially in the early film, and sometimes his performances were erratic. James Franco was, predictably, James Franco. Keegan Allen was also sometimes hard to buy into, and for most of the film was too vaguely written/developed. This trio, to me, felt like porn actors trying to play real actors trying to play stereotypes of porn actors. Some of the sex scenes with these guys feel a little "too close to real" and some are almost pastiche or (sadly) comical.
It seems likely that Sean Lockhart, better known as Brent Corrigan, set out to become a porn sensation; perhaps that is arguable. Depends on the story -- in which Sean Lockhart declined to participate, then later called a bastardized and inaccurate portrayal of his life, the events, the murder, and his time in porn. The movie did gloss over many parts of the story, or condense them -- likely in interests of running time, marketability, and many other factors -- that left an unsatisfied feeling of a bland meal. The conclusion was particularly over-sweet and over-done.
The story has interested me since it came to light; I remember these events and wanted to know still more about it all. There was a lot that I liked and did enjoy in this movie, but there were some sour spots that, for me, were enough to unbalance the equation. I liked it enough for what it was, and maybe I went into it expecting a different story or experience. Then again, I liked it enough. :?