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The Fluffer
Metascore
53 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 16
  3. Negative: 2 out of 16
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  1. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    80
    Saturated with deep, rich color and low-key visual wit, and graced with sympathetic performances.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    That it is a fine example of modest-budget filmmaking, boasting first-rate acting, writing and directing, is not all that surprising.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    80
    More tasteful, sensitive and original than you might imagine.
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    Several notches above the usual gay-themed indie, and mostly manages to avoid -- or at least legitimately deploy -- the gratuitous throbbing beefcake scenes that are part and parcel of the genre.
  5. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: David Ehrenstein
    70
    In the end, The Fluffer is a film for the chastened romantic in us all -- gay, straight or "for pay."
  6. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    67
    It's a great set-up, and for the first two-thirds or so of the film it works exceptionally well as a jaundiced satire on the world of gay porn.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    63
    The performances are more than serviceable and The Fluffer is well-paced and engaging until the flaccid climax.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    60
    Moves nimbly from behind-the-scenes comedy to melodrama, with occasional stumbles into pop psychology and film-noir violence.
  9. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Stratton
    60
    Distinguished by generally good performances and smart camerawork.
  10. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    Would have more heft if the filmmakers had been supplied with talented stars, original ideas, and a barely adequate budget.
  11. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    50
    It's hard to give two hoots about any of these characters.
  12. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    Screenwriter and co-director West -- who works in gay porn -- evinces an easy and even-handed familiarity with the milieu, and his characters only occasionally lapse into broad caricature.
  13. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Bob Westal
    50
    Funny and sensitive for all its faults, The Fluffer is nevertheless unlikely to break out of the gay cinema ghetto.
  14. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    40
    The Fluffer even heads south of the border for its finale, as if hoping that warmer climes will energize its fitful melodrama.
  15. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Charles Taylor
    30
    Stay away from this cautionary tale about the gay porn industry -- it blows.
  16. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    25
    What if you made a pornographic movie with a real story line and better acting but didn't show any sex? You'd get The Fluffer, a movie that sounds and feels like the real thing but isn't.
    All this critic's reviews
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