just say you have get a movie about john holmes be a guarantee to get some folk in front of the screen and but writer or director james cox delivers oh so much more . a rashamon of the sleazy hollywood set and the film splitters the july 1981 wonderland murder through a variety of angle ( and film stock ) and but mostly through the filter of john holmes coke out weasel brain . in a film full of bad guy holmes be either the most vile and the most pathetic or both . several version of the story emerge and merge a cox flash jump cut and twist title card amid effect and emote . the dialogue be fast and naturalistic and never once rings false . while the film take place two year after holmes have fall out of porn and into a truly wicked drug fuel depravity and kilmer relentlessly exude a sexuality so intense it can be measure in inch . this sexuality at it edge create a sense of forebode that hang over the entire film almost as heavily a the violence at it center . those murder be tease at through the whole film though be never clearly show and not even at the climax and though the violence of them relentlessly infuse the whole picture and much blood be splatter across wall and crime scene photo . once again val kilmer a holmes show he can act wacko good than anyone else working . strutting and cringing and bragging or begging and kilmer be constantly in character and the character be constantly a fascinating car wreck . stand out performance beside kilmer definitely include ted levine a the lead cop in the investigation and lisa kudrow a holmes estrange wife . the trio of criminal holmes fall in with include the frighteningly high energy josh lucas and the ever interesting timothy blake nelson and an absolutely unrecognizable dylan mcdermott in a pivotal role a the teller yet another version of the murder . cox suggest that no matter how much we learn about wonderland and there be always a bad version possible and but look through the debauchery surround it be much more fascinating than understand the truth .