Film Reviews

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♦”After watching Tara Hurley’s rousing documentary, Happy Endings?, I feel like stomping on to the front lawn of Providence’s City Hall, and burning my bra.” — Angela Mac, The Plot Hole

♦”‘Happy Endings?’ has no answers, but brings up better questions. It’s a film that gives a voice to a group of women who are much talked about, but seldom heard. With heart and objectivity, and with courage, Tara Hurley walked through the doors and let the women speak. We have to listen to them if we want to help.” – Nancy Green, Kmareka

♦”Rhode Island, in its time, has been known for many important and influential industries: slave importation, textiles, jewelry. In our time, another industry has gained considerable prominence, and attracted considerable controversy: the Asian massage parlor (AMP) industry. The undisputed truth is that the act of prostitution, when carried out behind closed doors, is 100% legal in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. ‘Happy Endings?’, directed by first-time documentary filmmaker Tara Hurley, is a compelling document that adds real data points to a debate that has been, at best, opaque.”   Nicholas E Coutis – “Girls on Film: Happy Endings? is an important contribution to the prostitution debate.” The Moderate Online.

♦”Hurley spent four years of her life following a few of these women, their managers (or pimps), interviewing politicians and law enforcement, and her four years was well spent. She manages to bring to light a very serious issue that is frequently swept under the rug, and kept out of sight. She examines the double standard that law enforcement adheres to when arresting the ‘masseuse’ but not the ‘John.’ But most of all, she manages to remind us that the women who claim prostitution as their profession are not statistics, or stories to be heard on the nightly news, they’re real women, with a face, and history and a story.”  – Blake Griffin Bitchin Film Reviews

♦Radio interview with Director Tara Hurley, Mimi Budnick from Direct Action for Rights and Equality, and Rachel West of COYOTE. -Maggie Lange 95.5 WBRU News Brief Audio File

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This film is unrated.  It contains strong sexual content and images and strong language.