American Swing (2009)
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50% of critics liked it
(24 reviews) -
58% of users liked it
(3,239 ratings)
Filmmakers Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart explore the last gasp of the sexual revolution with this profile of Plato's Retreat -- New York City's most notorious, 1970s-era sex club. The year was 1977: the city was in the suffocating grip of a heat wave, nerves were rattled due to the energy… More Filmmakers Mathew Kaufman and Jon Hart explore the last gasp of the sexual revolution with this profile of Plato's Retreat -- New York City's most notorious, 1970s-era sex club. The year was 1977: the city was in the suffocating grip of a heat wave, nerves were rattled due to the energy crisis, and the social unrest was growing. But when the sun went down over the city, the nightlife flourished. The discos were packed, cocaine was all the rage at Studio 54, and over at CBGB the punks were smashing it up. Inspired by the open sexuality in gay clubs all across town, Larry Levenson hatched the idea to open a club where people could have sex freely, without shame or threat of lawful consequences. On the surface Levenson appeared to be just your average family man, but by night he would leave his wife at home to live it up at local swingers clubs. It was with the help of some particularly shady investors, as well as his girlfriend Mary and a series of steamy public-access commercials, that Levenson made his dreams of opening an extravagant, heterosexual sex club a reality. There were no inhibitions at Plato's Retreat, as highlighted by the numerous vintage clips showing the swingers paradise in its heyday. But while the city ultimately failed in their efforts to pass ordinances that would close Plato's Retreat, the club flourished until the closing of its doors on New Year's Eve, 1985, an erotic casualty of the growing AIDS crisis. Interviews with Melvin Van Peebles, Ed Koch, as well as other journalists, celebrities, and actual club employees paint a vivid image of the carefree era before sexuality was a matter of life and death. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jon Hart, Matthew Kaufman
- Genres
- Documentary
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Mar 27, 2009 Wide
- On DVD
- Apr 14, 2009
- Studio
- Magnolia
Critic Reviews
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Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
The film treats Levenson's rapid descent as if someone had turned on the lights at a sex party: scurrying away with pity and irritation that the good times had to end.
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Lou Lumenick, New York Post
American Swing doesn't have a particularly well-defined point of view, but it is a succinct, entertaining and valuable record of a time that in some ways now seems as remote as the Roaring '20s.
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Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
In the end, the impression isn't that much different from one given by the club's own hairy habitues -- lots of sleazy charm, pounds of gold chains and a smarmy shallowness that goes very, very deep.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
Although American Swing pointedly goes out of its way to include positive testimonials from several women who patronized the club, it leaves you feeling queasy.
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Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Directors Jon Hart and Matthew Kaufman don't delve deeply enough into the psyche of club founder Larry Levenson or the culture he exploited. But they do present an entertaining snapshot of his brief reign as New York's self-appointed King of Swing.
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