''Love Ranch'' is a 2010 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Taylor Hackford Taylor Edwin Hackford (born December 31, 1944) is an American film director and former president of the Directors Guild of America. He won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for ''Teenage Father'' (1979). Hackford went on to direct ...

and starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Ra ...

, Sergio Peris-Mencheta,

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat'' (1988), '' Showgirls'' (1995), '' Bound'' (1996), '' Face/Off'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Demonlover'' (2002 ...

and

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...

. It was written by Mark Jacobson. The film is based on the lives of

Joe Conforte Joseph Conforte (December 10, 1925 – March 4, 2019) was a legal brothel owner from Sparks, Nevada, spokesperson for the legal prostitution movement, a professional boxing promoter, restaurateur, philanthropist, and Nevada statesman. He o ...

and Sally Conforte, a married couple who operated the first legal brothel in the United States after the widespread criminalization of prostitution in the US earlier in the 20th century, the

Mustang Ranch The Mustang Ranch is a brothel in Storey County, Nevada, about east of Reno. It is currently located at 1011 Wild Horse Canyon Drive, Sparks, Nevada, 89434. Under past owner Joe Conforte, Mustang Ranch Brothel, the precursor to Mustang Ranch, ...

in Storey County, Nevada, Violence results when their marriage is tested by

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riva ...

. The story also alludes to the mysterious circumstances surrounding the assassination of famous

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

boxer

Ringo Bonavena Oscar Natalio "Ringo" Bonavena (September 25, 1942 – May 22, 1976) was an Argentine heavyweight professional boxer with a career record of 58 wins, 9 losses and 1 draw. A rugged, wild-swinging puncher, he was nicknamed "Ringo" because of his Bea ...

in the Mustang Ranch.

Plot synopsis

Charlie Bontempo (sometimes called Charlie "Goodtimes") and his wife, Grace, run a legal brothel known as the Love Ranch on a large, remote property near

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Grace's mother had been a prostitute, so Grace knew the business, but it was Charlie who persuaded her to open a brothel in a part of Nevada where doing so would not be violating the law. The business runs smoothly but is not without its headaches, such as unruly customers needing to be dealt with by a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

or prostitutes who get out of line. Grace is amazed when Charlie procures the contract of a professional

heavyweight boxer Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

, Armando "Bruza" Bonavena, who is from

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and has had fights against the likes of

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...

and Joe Frazier. Charlie is eager to have a fighter, but coaxes Grace into becoming Bruza's actual manager because Charlie has a felony conviction that prevents him from getting a license. Grace can hardly believe Bruza is willing to live and train at the brothel, where he moves into a trailer. She is surprised even more when Bruza begins to demonstrate a physical interest in her, since she is married and considerably older. She is offended at first, but the boxer's attentions and outgoing personality begin to win her over. Bruza begins to voice an interest in becoming Grace's business partner in running the brothel. Charlie begins to become aware of what's happening behind his back, leading to a disastrous outcome for all.

Cast

as Grace Bontempo *

as Charlie "Charlie Goodtimes" Bontempo *

Sergio Peris-Mencheta Luis Sergio Peris-Mencheta Barrio (born 7 April 1975), better known as Sergio Peris-Mencheta, is a Spanish theatre, cinema, and television actor, as well as a theatre director. Life and career Luis Sergio Peris-Mencheta Barrio was born on 7 Apri ...

as Armando Bruza *

as James Pettis *

as Irene *

Scout Taylor-Compton Scout Taylor-Compton (born Desariee Starr Compton; February 21, 1989) is an American actress. She has frequently worked in the horror genre, most notably as Laurie Strode in the 2007 remake of ''Halloween'' and its 2009 sequel. Outside of horr ...

as Christina *

Taryn Manning Taryn Manning is an American actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett in the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), Cherry in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2010), Nola in ''Hu ...

as Mallory *

Gil Birmingham Gil Birmingham (born July 13, 1953) is an American actor known for his role as Tribal Chairman Thomas Rainwater in the Paramount Network's television series ''Yellowstone''. He is also known for his portrayal of Billy Black in '' The Twilight Sag ...

as Sheriff Cortez *

Bai Ling Bai Ling (, born October 10, 1966) is a Chinese-American actress known for her work in the films ''The Crow'', ''Nixon'', ''Red Corner'', '' Crank: High Voltage'', ''Dumplings'', ''Wild Wild West'', ''Anna and the King'', ''Southland Tales'', and ...

as Samantha *

Rick Gomez Richard Harper Gomez (born June 1, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Radio Technician 4th Grade George Luz in the HBO television miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the Nickelodeon ...

as Tom Macy *

Leslie Jordan Leslie Allen Jordan (April 29, 1955 – October 24, 2022) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and singer. His television roles include Supporting characters on Will & Grace, Beverley Leslie on ''Will & Grace'' (2001–2006 and 2017–2020) ...

as Mr. Hainsworth *

M. C. Gainey Michael Connor Gainey (born January 18, 1948) is an American character actor best known for his appearances in ''Lost'', ''Con Air'', ''Sideways'', ''Tangled'', and ''Django Unchained''. Early life Gainey was born in Jackson, Mississippi. In the ...

as Warren Stamp *

Elise Neal Elise Demetria Neal (born March 14, 1966) is an American actress. Her big break came with three 1997 films, appearing in ''Rosewood'', '' Money Talks'' and ''Scream 2''. From 1998 to 2002, Neal starred as Yvonne Hughley in the ABC/ UPN sitcom ...

as Alana *

Harve Presnell George Harvey Presnell (September 14, 1933 – June 30, 2009) was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid-1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States. His career re ...

as Dr. Smathers (in his final film role) *

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

as Naasih Mohammed

Production and release

Filming began in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, Nevada, in January 2008. ''Love Ranch'' was released in limited U.S. theaters on June 30, 2010. It was

's final film role.

Reception

The film has received mostly negative reviews. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 13% based on 52 reviews, and an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite its saucy setup and the always marvelous Helen Mirren, ''Love Ranch'' is disappointingly flaccid." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

References

External links