King Cobra (2016)

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Christian Slater and James Franco star in this true story about rival gay porn producers fighting over a rising star named Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton). Slater gives Corrigan his start, but when Corrigan learns he’s being paid peanuts compared to what his videos earn, he tries to escape Slater — and his contract. The legal battle gets ugly, eventually outing the two to family and friends. Things escalate even further when Franco and his partner (Keegan Allen), desperate for a cash injection, entice Corrigan to work with them. When they learn Slater has trademarked Corrigan’s name, preventing them from using it, they decide to take matters into their own hands — with a criminal outcome.

King Cobra‘s true story is a pretty outrageous one worthy of the docudrama treatment. But what makes the movie work is its attention to character dynamics. Slater and Franco are playing middle-aged characters clinging to youth through their much younger lovers. The younger men are naïve, but certainly not powerless. In fact, they hold all the power when it comes to reaffirming the older men’s status and desirability. King Cobra is a portrait of four gay men in intergenerational relationships that fracture under the stress of pride, jealousy, and insecurity. It speaks to the fragility of masculinity, but not in a cold-hearted way. Even when these characters are at their worst, we sympathize with them because we know where they’re coming from. To that end, even at a scant ninety minutes, King Cobra is somewhat illuminating.

The characters are interesting enough that I wish King Cobra were a longer movie. Slater gives the movie’s best performance, balancing hope with regret and tenderness with menace. Franco is… well, Franco. It works for the most part, but his performance teeters on caricature a few times. Keegan Allen is beguiling as Franco’s beau. He’s vulnerable when with Franco, but domineering in front of paying clients. His character is a haunted one that Allen keeps under control. Garrett Clayton is the weakest link in the cast. Playing a man that would eventually divorce himself from all controlling middle men to found his own production company, it’d be nice to see more peaks and valleys in the performance — more contract between the character’s vulnerability and self-confidence. Alicia Silverstone and Molly Ringwald make welcome appearances as Corrigan’s mother and Slater’s sister, respectively.