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Review

Sonny was brought up in a New Orleans whorehouse by his mother Jewel (Blethyn) who had him turning tricks at eight. Sonny escapes to the army, and on his return hopes to work in a bookstore his friend's dad owns. When Sonny goes to visit his army buddy he finds that not only is the store job not going to happen, but that he will have to go back to whoring. It's all he really knows and he's real good. Sonny is known and admired by all of his woman lovers as a very talented prostitute. Also in the picture are Walter played by the wonderful Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas) and Carol (Suvari), a whore that works for Jewel. Walter is Jewel's shoplifting lover who urges Sonny to get a normal life and give up hustling. Carol makes the mistake of falling in love with another whore, always on the make.

Of note in this downbeat but sexually hot film are the numerous lovemaking scenes and Nicholas Cage's brief but explosively gay moments on screen. James Franco is shown without a shirt in many scenes, naked from the rear in a few and with a stop-frame you can take a peek at his goods. The female nudity is far less generous as we only see breasts in the older women Sonny sleeps with. Very sexy actress Mena Suvari (American Pie 2) has sex with a shirt on! It's fairly amazing and quite unusual that the film is centered around male beauty, more than female. Nicholas Cage makes an appearance as a gay pimp known as "Acid Yellow". Sonny enters his bordello claiming that he is ready to have sex with men for pay. Yellow is seen sitting at the bar snorting white powder while a really odd-looking pink poodle stands on the bar next to him. Cage is deep into his costume with a wild orange afro and indescribably weird clothing. It's a bizarre, hallucinogenic moment that ranks among the most memorable gay scenes in recent memory. Sonny is a seedy, atmospheric trip to New Orleans that you won't soon forget.

Scott Cranin