DVD: PORN STAR
THE LEGEND OF RON JEREMY
(New Video Group)
Reviewed by John Sekerka

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The Hedgehog! Everyday slob Ron Jeremy, a penny pinching teddy bear, a loving son in a welcoming Jewish family, Hollywood hopeful, budding stand-up comedian, self-promoting hustler, charming narcoleptic dreamer, is without a doubt the greatest porn star the world has ever seen. With over 1700 doin-the-nasty flicks to his credit, Ron Jeremy is the Gordie Howe of sex cinema (that’s a compliment, Gordie).

Director Scott J. Gill follows Jeremy around as he hustles across the continent, making endless publicity appearances, hosting nudie contests, making movies, dying for yuks at comedy clubs, and falling asleep at the wheel. Jeremy is cordial, funny, approachable, just yer average shmoe, who happens to rival Wilt Chamberlain in the bedroom trophy department. Smut schmut, this is a heart warming family story, of a Jewish boy setting out to be somebody, with his seemingly nonchalant though very traditional family right behind him.

It’s a peek into the porn industry that most would never dare enter, dissecting it as just another entertainment business, where the work is uh, hard, and the hours, uh, long. It certainly takes the glamour out of porn, but Boogie Nights already burst that bubble. What Porn Star is really about is Ron Jeremy, the man with the all-American dream: to be a movie star in mainstream Hollywood, even if he has to have sex with streams of women to get there.

DVD synopsis: among the bonus material are several great scenes cut out of the film, presumably for length or continuity reasons. The best of the bunch is a revelation that Jeremy’s mother worked for the precursor of the CIA during the war. There just isn't a dull moment to be had anywhere.

[Dictatorial director: Scott J. Gill. Big shot movie stars: Ron Jeremy and babes. Soundtrack: bouncy filler and trashy hump disco.]

© 2003 - John Sekerka