Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes

Great documentary a must own.

Fun and thorough run-through of the life of a real sonuvabitch. I knew of the Wonderland hijinks thanks to enjoying the Val Kilmer film when it released two decades ago but retained very little of the details today, so seeing it in stark reality was a real shock again. Knowing through this doc that the rest of the man's life wasn't any more serene makes for a pretty dour story. Probably helps explains why he was visibly only semi-interested in his work most of the time. Thankfully, this was made when many of the golden era's stars were still around so we get their vibrant remarks and candidly funny anecdotes to balance it out. It certainly never puts its subject on a pedestal, wisely placing its emphasis on who he really was based on facts and those that knew him firsthand.

Holmes was a wild wadd!!

I went into this release & this version of the John Holmes doc thinking that it looks interesting. All I really knew about the guy was that he was the world's most famous pornstar and that he had a giant pickle. Turns out - he was a complete monster. Loved this doc.

While it's not particularly innovative, the saving grace for this documentary is the documentary subject himself. By all accounts, John C. Holmes was a right *******, but he makes for an interesting figure and icon of the golden age of ****. No wonder P. T. Anderson used him as the inspiration for the central character in Boogie Nights.