Mr_Ectoplasma
"Lipstick" focuses on Chris (Margaux Hemingway), a Los Angeles model working for a lipstick company, who ends up being brutalized and raped in her apartment by her little sister's deranged music teacher/avant-garde composer (Chris Sarandon). After a feisty attorney (Anne Bancroft) fails to get a conviction, Chris takes is later forced to take matters into her own hands.Decried as one of the worst films of the '70s, "Lipstick" has been condemned as everything from exploitative trash to a shameless vehicle for the Hemingway sisters. I'm going to play the devil's advocate here and say that, while, yes, the film does edge into the territory of the exploitation film (think 1973's "Thriller"), and yes, a lot of the legal jargon is dumbed down and the script set-up is at times completely arbitrary, this is not nearly as terrible a film as many would lead you to believe.Lamont Johnson, who previously directed the superb Patty Duke thriller "You'll Like My Mother" in 1972, is behind the camera here, and the film is very stylishly shot. 1970s Los Angeles colors every frame, and the camera work is flashy and slick. Pacing is a bit of an issue here, as the film does have a bizarre narrative trajectory—it rises and falls, rises and falls, and the conclusion is a bit abrupt, which is indicative of the script needing some work. Margaux Hemingway and little sister Mariel play on screen siblings very nicely, both demonstrating considerably acting capability. Sarandon is at times a bit overacting here, but is reprehensible enough. Anne Bancroft plays the no- nonsense attorney perfectly, while Perry King appears briefly in a relatively pointless role as Hemingway's boyfriend/photographer.The film's second-to-last scene is the real dynamite here, and the reason it's remembered above anything else, although it again is a bit awkwardly paced, and seems to arrive too late to the party. Overall though, "Lipstick" is not as awful of a film as so many have painted it to be. It's no masterpiece, but it is a mildly thrilling, entertaining revenge film, and Margaux Hemingway and Bancroft's performances lend it some serious backbone. 7/10.
Uriah43
"Kathy McCormick" (Mariel Hemingway) is a young 13-year old who has a crush on her music teacher, "Gordon Stuart" (Chris Sarandon). She lives with her older sister, "Chris McCormick" (Margaux Hemingway) who is a beautiful fashion model. Knowing that Gordon is trying to promote a tape he has made, Kathy gets Chris to agree to listen to it. Gordon tries several times to get Chris to take time from her busy schedule to listen to it. But when he finally gets his chance to play the tape he feels personally slighted by her disinterest. This infuriates Gordon and he viciously rapes Chris. Now, rather than reveal the entire plot I will just say that even though all 3 actors performed well enough, this movie seemed to steadily lose momentum the longer it went on. It then culminated in a ludicrous final segment and an extremely abrupt ending. It almost seemed like they ran out of money and had to stop filming immediately. That said, I rate this movie as slightly below average.
bob_meg
I've never heard or seen what the late Margaux Hemingway thought of her decision to star in this classic Dino Delaurentis "anything for a buck" hack fest, but I'd guess it's regret.If you subtract the horribly slapped together courtroom denouement, tighten up the sometimes hackneyed, over-melodramatic, cliché-ridden script, you're left with a harsh examination of rape and the judicial realities (circa 1976 anyway) of the crime's aftermath.Providing the movie was of a slightly higher grade (it's really not THAT bad a film if you look at it strictly in a technical sense), an established actress who was put through the paces Margaux is here would probably garner an Oscar nomination (think Jodie Foster's performance as a hard-edged working-class girl in "The Accused" --- was that any less graphic and sleazy?). Unfortunately, it's much easier to beat up (no pun intended) on a model with no acting experience.Frankly, I've never thought Margaux's delivery here was bad --- it's natural, and her exchanges with her sister Mariel are believable and touching. Chris Sarandon, though suitably hateful, brings a creepy realism to his wacko music teacher/rapist role, and Anne Bancroft is solid as usual.The biggest problem I've had with this film is it's unequivocal equation of electronic/avant-garde music with a deviant, unbalanced mind. Given that postulate, behind every sex offender therein lies a complete catalog of Tangerine Dream, John Cage, and Hawkwind.
preppy-3
Model Chris McCormack (Margaux Hemingway) is brutally raped by a teacher (Chris Sarandon) of her sister Kathy (Mariel Hemingway). He is brought to trial but goes totally free. He then rapes Kathy!Objectionable and sick rape film. This movie was advertised as an important drama dealing with rape. What it is is a badly written and (for the most part) badly acted drama. It purports to be sympathetic to the victim of the rape but shoves the scene in our face. To be totally honest however, Hemingway's acting is so bad in that sequence that it loses any real impact it might have had. The trial scenes were boring and predictable. And the movie just went too far when 15 year old Mariel is raped (thankfully that wasn't shown). I do admit though that it did lead to a great ending when Margaux grabs a gun and shoots Sarandon dead. But seriously--having a young girl raped is just revolting.Acting doesn't help. For instance, Margaux was no actress. She was certainly a beautiful woman (and an actual model I believe) but her acting left a lot to be desired. It lessens the film. Mariel was just OK but this was one of her first films. Sarandon does what he can as the rapist. He wasn't bad but the terrible script worked against him.I do remember hearing that at a screening of this back in 1976 some women stood up and cheered when Sarandon was killed so maybe this works for some people. I found this boring, simplistic and REALLY sick. A 1 all the way.
AD
