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.
Comment
04/03/09
American Swing (2009)
57
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:7
Fresh:4
Rotten:3
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: While American Swing covers a fascinating subject, its amateur documentary treatment does it no favors.
Theatrical Release:Mar 27, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: In 1970s New York City, Plato's Retreat was an epicenter of sensual excess. The renowned sex club was a thriving destination for patrons who wanted to leave their inhibitions at the door. This... [More]
Director: Jon Hart, Mathew Kaufman
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Reviews for American Swing
1 - 7 (sorted by date)
Top CriticAmerican 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.
03/27/09
Top CriticIn 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.
03/27/09
Top CriticAlthough American Swing pointedly goes out of its way to include positive testimonials from several women who patronized the club, it leaves you feeling queasy.
03/27/09
Top CriticDirectors 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.
03/26/09
Top CriticA shrewdly made documentary about the rise and fall of Plato's Retreat, the infamous Manhattan sex club of the '70s and '80s.
03/25/09
Top CriticThough sweetly reminding us that some outer-borough suburbanites did find liberation at Plato's, the film tries -- and fails -- to swing both ways, nostalgically glorifying its subject only to smugly revel in Levenson's ignominious demise.
03/24/09
Top Critic1 - 7 (sorted by date)
Latest News for American Swing
April 06, 2009:
Cautionary documentary revisits rise and fall of Plato's Retreat. 
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March 26, 2009:
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