This review of the Garden Thieves Pictures DVD release, which hits actual and virtual shelves on April 23 2015, of the Tatum O'Neal dark comedy "Sweet Lorriane" is the second of two posts in the Unreal TV "Jersey? Sure!" series. The first entry is a post on the documentary "Victori: The Truth Can't Be Just One Thing" about the titular New Jersey-based portrait artist.
The titular political wife, played by an expectations defying O'Neal, is the second spouse of mild-mannered New Jersey deputy mayor candidate/minister Freeman BeeBee. The mayor candidate Lou Bava is a hilariously typical "Jersey Shore" style Italian-American with a touch of Bill Clinton. This pairing of candidates perfectly illustrates the concept that politics makes strange bedfellows.
The following clip, courtesy of YouTube, of the spoiler-laden trailer for "Lorraine" expertly conveys the satirical nature of the '70s/"Sopranos" gritty style feel of the film. You can almost smell the toxic fumes of the Garden State setting.
Waspy incumbent Mayor Ward digging up the sordid not very distant past (think an even tougher and more aggressive Carmela Soprano) of our heroine sets the stage for hilarious dirty politics Jersey style.
The sordid lives of Lorraine, her less-than-respectable friends, our candidates, and campaign officials and volunteers include not-so-foxy boxing, very sloppy cross-dressing, corrupt cops, and sleazy motel hook-ups. The real-life experience of O'Neal being hit on by her drunken father at the funeral of long-time Ryan O'Neal romantic partner Farrah Fawcett seem to be the only socially unacceptable behavior missing from this film.
A wonderfully campy and raucous bedroom scene near the end of "Lorraine" really solidifies the trashy '70s movie/John Waters feel of the film. This, in turn, leads to a great surprise ending that reveals the true brains of the operation.
O'Neal does a decent job as Lorraine and definitley shows that she is no longer the spunky child star who grew up on the big screen in the '70s. Only casting fellow "Little Darlings" co-star Kristy McNichol in the role of Lorraine's equally tough BFF Felicity would have made the film better.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Lorraine" is welcome to email me; you can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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