A story about infidelity, prostitution, racketeering, and murder set in the swinging, “free love” decade of the ‘70s should make a deliciously trashy melodrama. But that’s not the case for Taylor Hackford’s Love Ranch, a bio-pic about the violence that erupts from the marital breakdown of Joe and Sally Conforte, the married co-owners of the famed Mustang Ranch. The film tells a tawdry tale about tawdry people engaged in a tawdry business. However, Hackford’s pedestrian approach to the material barely raises the temperature of this real-life potboiler above simmer.

Charlie and Grace Bontempo (the fictionalized Confortes) are a devoted, loving couple who manage Love Ranch – the first legal brothel in the United States – in relative accord despite Charlie’s rampant infidelities which Grace stoically overlooks. Charlie (Joe Pesci) is the showman, and Grace (Dame Helen Mirren) is the brains behind the scenes – (and she cooks the books to keep the IRS auditors at bay). She also plays den mother to the ranch’s harem of “working girls” -- most notable among them are Samantha (Bai Ling), Irene (Gina Gershon), and Christina (Scout Taylor-Compton).

When Charlie promotes boxer Armando Bruza (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and invites him to the ranch to train for the series of fights he’s planned, the lonely and neglected Sally enters into an affair with the young fighter, which proves deadly.

Although Love Ranch is to brothels and prostitution what Boogie Nights was to pornography, it lacks the latter’s depth, edge, poignancy, and sly humor. Neither Hackford nor screenwriter Mark Jacobson digs below the surface details, nor do they plumb the depth of life in a brothel and the seedy world of prostitution. We never get to know the prostitutes as people -- their circumstances, where they came from, or what caused them to sell their bodies for cash. They simply stand in the background as props. With the exception of Sally’s relationship with Armando, our emotions and sympathies toward the characters are never engaged.

If a mediocre film is lucky enough to count Mirren among its cast, then there’s sure to be  at least one bright spot -- namely her.  The the poignant performances delivered by Mirren and Peris-Mencheta here provide the film’s only genuine and heartfelt substance. Their chemistry makes their characters’ bond -- which goes beyond the merely sexual -- tender and believable. Pesci’s portrayal of Charlie is a kinder, gentler, yet still deadly, version of his Nicky Santoro character recycled from Casino. But we have seen this performance before, so his character comes across as grating and one-note; Pesci doesn’t offer us anything fresh.

Hackford has helmed many brilliant films (Ray, Dolores Claiborne), but he makes a serious misstep with Love Ranch.  The subject matter is certainly titillating enough to pique our interest, but the execution seems too flat to grab and hold our attention. Unfortunately, this pulpy non-fiction lacks juice. As a result, we get a film with no fun, no humor, no depth, and finally, no point.

(Released by E1 Entertainment and rated "R" for sexual content, pervasive language and some violence.)

Review also posted at www.moviebuffs.com.