Love Ranch (2010)

A drama centered around a married couple who opened the first legal brothel in Nevada.

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writer:

Mark Jacobson

Stars:

Helen Mirren, Joe Pesci, Sergio Peris-Mencheta

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Helen Mirren	...	Grace Bontempo
Joe Pesci	...	Charlie Bontempo
Sergio Peris-Mencheta	...	Armando Bruza
Gina Gershon	...	Irene
Taryn Manning	...	Mallory
Scout Taylor-Compton	...	Christina
Bai Ling	...	Samantha
Elise Neal	...	Alana
Bryan Cranston	...	James Pettis
Rick Gomez	...	Tom Macy
M.C. Gainey	...	Warren Stamp
Gil Birmingham	...	Johnny Cortez
Emily Rios	...	Muneca
Melora Walters	...	Janelle
Raoul Trujillo	...	Hernan Prado

Storyline

In the mid-70s, near Reno, Grace Bontempo runs the Love Ranch, a legal brothel. Her husband Charlie, with big dreams, a felony record, and an aptitude for spending and infidelity, is the brothel's public face. On the day Grace's doctor tells her she has cancer in an advanced state, Charlie takes on new client, Argentine boxer Armando Bruza, Charlie's ticket to fame: he hopes to promote a fight with Ali. Because of Charlie's felonies, Grace is Bruza's titular manager. With the IRS and the church ladies circling the business, Grace takes the manager's role seriously and, along the way, Bruza charms her. Secrets play out: is there love at the Love Ranch? How will Charlie respond?

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Plot Keywords:

brothel | boxer | fight | argentine | cancer | 

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Taglines:

She Found Love In The Most Unexpected Of Places.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, pervasive language and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 2011 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Havat ha'ahava

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$60,353 (USA) (2 July 2010)

Gross:

$134,904 (USA) (23 July 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aramid Entertainment Fund, Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 3 GmbH & Co. KG, Rising Star

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is Joe Pesci's first substantial role in a film since Lethal Weapon 4. Although Pesci did appear in the 2006 film, "The Good Shepherd", his role was only a brief cameo.

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Goofs

After Grace kicks Bruza out of her car, she drives to his trailer park where we see a small satellite dish attached to one of the trailers, but mini dishes weren't used by private residences in 1976.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Grace Bontempo: Selling love will make your rich. That's what my mother taught me. Just don't put your heart in it.

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Connections

References The Queen (2006)

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Soundtracks

"One Night (With You)"
Performed by Elvis Presley

User Reviews

Silly misdirection of focus.

The focus is in the wrong place. Who cares about the owners. The real stories are what went on between the girls and their customers. There's where the action, emotion and conflicts happen. So many, and so interesting, I wrote a novel about it all.

Incidentally, the summary says the ranch was closed by the IRS. True and double-true. The IRS first closed the place in 1995, for a few days; then it was re-opened under IRS management. The IRS likes to deny they actually operated a brothel for profit, but the eyewitnesses and newspaper accounts say otherwise. The IRS actions were shameless. They actually confiscated the personal effects (clothing, teddy bears, hairbrushes, etc) belonging to the girls who worked there, sold these for chump change. This despite the fact that their claim was against the owners, not the girls.

CBS News and other coverage of the closing was laughable. It showed girls saying they were taking up sewing et cetera. In fact, the adjoining brothel (0.1 miles away) suddenly had an increase of dozens of new girls who simply moved to a new location.

When the property was auctioned, a lone bidder got the property for 10 cents on the dollar and he secretly represented the original owners. Re-opened without IRS, they operated for a few years until the second and final IRS closing. Old Joe ought to have paid his taxes.

There are still legal brothels in Nevada, but sharp increases in prices has taken away the casual fun atmosphere and customers are few and far between. Love Ranch? Not anymore.