evening1 Wrangler is a personable-enough guide through his mercurial life story and it was mildly interesting to learn about his role in gay liberation.Yet I couldn't help but feel Wrangler's pretty-boy persona didn't quite merit a full-length documentary. The dated-looking film clips were OK but after a while they seemed repetitious.The film hints at psychological scars caused by Wrangler's rejecting father but his obsession with sex isn't examined at all. It's all made to look rather typical against the backdrop of gay sexual behavior at the time. Similarly shallow is the film's treatment of Wrangler's puzzling late-life marriage to straight crooner Margaret Whiting. The movie's he-said, she-said approach to research leaves the viewer clueless.I was interested enough to see this to the end but I can't really recommend it.

jacklmauro I've always been a fan of Wrangler's gay porn, chiefly because he imbued a lot of passion in his sex scenes, and because you could just tell he was a nice guy underneath it all. I was at least half right. As this documentary makes clear, Wrangler was in fact a very nice guy. But there are mistakes in presentation in this film, and they puzzle me. For instance: Jack's groundbreaking role in gay porn is nicely delineated, yet all the commentators bypass the reality. That is, they praise his macho film image and actually convey this as his screen power, when in fact Wrangler's porn work was mostly macho shtick, an over-the-top, unconvincing strut. Which is why you fell for him - you saw the niceness, and he made it work ONLY because he had a sexy body. There was no stud persona, really, men. There was a sweet dude who was hung, who overplayed, and who was...well, sweet. Why does this movie fall short? Oddly, because it lets Jack talk way, way too much, and there's no room for an interesting analysis of how that early world of gay porn was the perfect doorway for a mediocre actor (and his filmed bits of club acts are somewhat painful to watch) who was gay, far more effeminate than either he or the documentary is willing to admit, and who wisely spent time at the gym. Similarly, Wrangler goes to extremes to justify his marriage to Margaret Whiting, when what emerges is an unnecessarily lengthy dance around a union formed between a gay man and a straight woman who were great, great friends. I just feel...let down. No mystery - and little hard reality - is conveyed here, either about Jack the porn star or Jack the husband. Yet, maybe it's not the film's fault. I dare say I merely expected greater depth from a subject that, while sweet as hell, has little to offer.

fordraff I never found Jack Wrangler the least bit sexy. Why wasn't Jack sexy for me? He was a Ken doll, too bland, no depth of personality shown on screen, no interesting quirks. Yes, he was attractive in a smooth, blond way. He'd been to the gym and built himself up. And he certainly had a fine circumcised cock (on display here) that was suitable for porn films. Yet, I can never recall seeing Wrangler in a sex scene where I felt he was actually involved with his partner. He always seemed to be "phoning in" the sex scene, as if the real Jack Wrangler was not even in the same room. His orgasm scenes were equally faked and that is proved in this documentary when clips are shown of Jack ejaculating and Jack being buggered (for want of a more specific word). His reaction is more comic than sexual.All of this was explained for me in this documentary and in Jack's book, "What Is A Nice Boy Like You Doing?" Wrangler was a character, a persona, that Jack Stillman created, and in that role, Wrangler performed in porn films. Stillman's real self was left behind when he was being filmed.This documentary clearly states that most of the guys in gay porn films were hustlers, were not well educated, often had criminal records, were heavily into drug use. Wrangler was none of these things. He came from an upper-middle-class background, lived in Beverly Hills, went to a private secondary school, had some college at Northwestern near Chicago, and had taken classes at a drama school in Manhattan. When he left the porn set at the end of the day, he went back to a world very unlike his co-stars returned to. Wrangler never hustled; he didn't have sex for money. Most gay porn actors did. As this documentary makes clear, these gay porn actors used their porn films as a launching pad for hustling and for personal strip show appearances around the country. Through the porn film, the guys became known, and based on that "fame" were able to get bookings into strip clubs and peddle their butts at high prices.The talking heads in the show overestimated Jack Wrangler's importance to gay porn because they didn't place Wrangler in context. There was some mention made of other porn filmmakers and actors but not enough. "The Boys in the Sand" was the first important gay porn film in Manhattan, playing months at the 55th Street Playhouse. Casey Donovan certainly had a huge impact on audiences in that early film. Other porn actors were equal to or exceeded Wrangler in popularity. However, most of them died of AIDS and aren't available for interviews today.Now, having said all of these negative things about Wrangler, I must say this film completely changed my opinion of him. Jack Stillman--not Wrangler--is actually a very entertaining guy who has a stock of interesting and often hilarious stories to tell. And tell them he does! It's hard to get Wrangler to stop talking. This may not be fully apparent in the film itself, but the DVD has an extra that includes footage from Stillman interviews that didn't make the film. And Jack is enormously entertaining. I'd enjoy having dinner with him, because I'm sure he'd dominate the talk, but I'd never be bored.Another thing that made Jack appealing is his looks. He lost that blond Ken Doll look as he aged. The interviews for this film were done when Jack was 59-60, and I find him much more sexy and appealing as he looks now with his gray hair and his wrinkles than when he was blond and smooth. Now Jack Stillman is a real person--unique, and with a personality that emerges through his talk. He frankly talks about manufacturing the Wrangler image and is willing to both make fun of Jack Wrangler and to treat him deprecatingly.The Jack Stillman revealed in this documentary made it worth my time to watch the film and is the only reason I would recommend the documentary.

rbrtptrck Jack Wrangler was a spoiled Beverly Hills brat, an insecure homosexual, and an unsuccessful actor who became the self-made top-echelon icon of gay pride in porn movies. Having reached the peak of the gay porn-star profession (a profession he virtually created as he created himself), he then made just as big a name in straight porn, married a famous woman, and started several new careers. This detailed, crystal-clear documentary takes you through Jack's mind and life with copious footage of him, his work, his times, and a great many people who were around him. As a co-worker of Jack's and a participant in this movie, I assure you that director Schwarz has caught Jack's quiet, charming, and above all strong essence perfectly. This is the Jack I know.