Hussy (1989) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski) and Tuna

Scoop's notes

In general, Helen Mirren's career is highly distinguished, especially in TV, where she has won three BAFTAs in six nominations, and three Emmys from a very impressive total of nine nominations. Her stage roles have earned her nominations for two Tonys and two Oliviers. Her film career is also first-rate. She has won the Best Actress award at Cannes twice, and has been nominated for two Oscars and three BAFTAs.

Here's her filmography.

  1. (7.77) - O Lucky Man! (1973)
  2. (7.68) - The Long Good Friday (1980)
  3. (7.36) - Some Mother's Son (1996)
  4. (7.30) - Excalibur (1981)
  5. (7.29) - The Madness of King George (1994)
  6. (7.20) - Gosford Park (2001)
  7. (7.09) - Last Orders (2001)
  8. (7.02) - As You Like It (1978)
  9. (7.00) - The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover (1989)
  10. (7.00) - Calendar Girls (2003)
  11. (6.98) - Cal (1984)
  12. (6.90) - Greenfingers (2000)
  13. (6.89) - Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)
  14. (6.87) - Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990)
  15. (6.80) - Pascali's Island (1988)
  16. (6.80) - The Pledge (2001)
  17. (6.80) - The Prince of Egypt (1998)
  18. (6.72) - Savage Messiah (1972)
  19. (6.70) - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
  20. (6.67) - When the Whales Came (1989)
  21. (6.56) - The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003)
  22. (6.43) - The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
  23. (6.42) - No Such Thing (2001)
  24. (6.40) - 2010 (1984)
  25. (6.40) - The Mosquito Coast (1986)
  26. (6.39) - Heavenly Pursuits (1985)
  27. (6.32) - Age of Consent (1969)
  28. (6.12) - A Midsummer Night's Dream (1968)
  29. (6.08) - Shadowboxer (2005)
  30. (6.08) - Critical Care (1997)
  31. (6.03) - 2010: The Odyssey Continues (1984)
  32. (6.03) - White Nights (1985)
  33. (6.01) - The Clearing (2004)
  34. (5.81) - The Hawk (1993)
  35. (5.71) - Raising Helen (2004)
  36. (5.66) - The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999)
  37. (5.40) - Prince of Jutland (1994)
  38. (4.91) - Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)
  39. (4.62) - Caligula (1979)
  40. (4.50) - Hussy (1980)
  41. (4.35) - The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

Suffice it to see that she's not likely to appear in any David Spade movies any time soon, but she actually did have kind of a slump in her career around 1979-1980 when she made three consecutive stinkers before The Long Good Friday elevated her to the British A-List. Hussy is one of those three, so if your dream has always been to see the distinguished Dame Helen Mirren do full-frontal nudity in an unimpressive movie, here's an opportunity.

Mirren plays a floozy working in a low-rent British nightclub, and her character runs through all the standard clichés of movie melodrama: she has an abusive and possessive criminal for an ex-boyfriend, she's a hooker who is only doing it to give her child a better life, she meets a humble limo driver who hopes to rescue her from the life, and so forth. The script is weak and predictable to begin with but it seems as inventive and witty as the work of Charlie Kaufman compared to the background atmosphere, which is close to unbearable. This damned film is almost a musical! Many scenes take place in the nightclub, which is supposed to be fifth-rate, and therefore features some of the worst performers and the least memorable songs in the history of the English stage, dating back at least to Ethelred the Unready. In fact, they make Ethelred seem positively well prepared. Mind you, the director did his job correctly. He could not have recruited top talent for those numbers because that would have been inappropriate in the context of a seedy nightclub. Unfortunately, his dedication to realism did not make the film any more pleasant to watch.
 

DVD INFO

  • no meaningful features except a photo gallery, but that does include one nice topless picture of Helen Mirren
  • the widescreen transfer is anamorphically enhanced for 16x9 screens

 

NUDITY REPORT

Helen Mirren does full frontal and rear nudity in a dark bedroom scene, and full frontal in a well-lit bath. There is slightly more to be seen in the two bathing scenes if one can procure the full screen version.

John Shea shows his rump in the sex scene.

Tuna's notes

Hussy, a British film, is listed at IMDb as a drama, but I would say it's more of an offbeat romantic comedy. The couple consists of a nightclub hooker (Helen Mirren), and a widow-turned-limo-driver (John Shea). Limo-boy meets the hussy at the club, and is immediately smitten. He manages to woo her, but has trouble looking the other way at her "job." He does get along fine with her young son, of whom she does not have legal custody. When her ex is released from either jail or a mental hospital for the criminally insane, life gets more interesting. The limo driver gets involved in a drug buy to raise cash so the two of them can take the kid, leave the country, and live happily ever after. Naturally, it isn't quite that simple.

The performances are fine as you would expect, especially from Dame Helen Mirren, but I could never really relate to the characters in this film. Mirren supposedly lost custody of her son because of her job, but had to turn tricks to pay her lawyer for the custody hearing. Shea, a widower, just gave up on life after the loss of his wife. It was supposed to be poignant that they found redemption in each other's arms, but I just never could invest any emotional energy in their plights.

The Critics Vote ...

  • Oddly, there are no other reviews available for this film online. You would think that at least one reviewer would be interested in a film featuring a two-time Oscar nominee completely naked in her prime.

 

The People Vote ...

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

Our own guideline:

  • A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre.
  • B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. In order to rate at least a B-, a film should be both a critical and commercial success. Exceptions: (1) We will occasionally rate a film B- with good popular acceptance and bad reviews, if we believe the critics have severely underrated a film. (2) We may also assign a B- or better to a well-reviewed film which did not do well at the box office if we feel that the fault lay in the marketing of the film, and that the film might have been a hit if people had known about it. (Like, for example, The Waterdance.)
  • C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by people who enjoy this kind of movie. If this is your kind of movie, a C+ and an A are indistinguishable to you.
  • C means it is competent, but uninspired genre fare. People who like this kind of movie will think it satisfactory. Others probably will not.
  • C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie, but genre addicts find it watchable. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film, but films with this rating should be approached with caution by mainstream audiences, who may find them incompetent or repulsive or both. If this is NOT your kind of movie, a C- and an E are indistinguishable to you.
  • D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-. Films rated below C- generally have both bad reviews and poor popular acceptance.
  • E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre.
  • F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

 

Based on this description, this film is a low C-

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