It’s easy to see what attracted Kim Cattrall to the title role of Meet Monica Velour. Sex might figure in this character’s life as prominently as it does for Samantha Jones in Sex and the City, but the similarities pretty much end there.
Monica is a former porn star who has become an object of obsession for geeky 18-year-old Tobe (Dustin Ingram). When he finds out that she’s making a rare live appearance at an Indiana strip club, he sets out in his vintage hot dog truck to meet the woman of his dreams, albeit one who is a good three decades older. But it becomes apparent that Monica’s best days are behind her…
Cattrall is terrific, investing her portrayal with a complex mixture of vulnerability, toughness and still-powerful sexuality. Newcomer Ingram is also fine; his Tobe is appealingly eccentric without lapsing into stereotype. Fine comic turns are provided by Brian Dennehy as Tobe’s tart grandfather, Keith David as an avid collector of kitsch and Elizabeth Wright Shapiro as a low-rent stripper named Snickers.
Frank Scheck
The Hollywood Reporter
Please note that the festival is over 18s only
