Blu-ray Review – Street Girls (1975)

Barry Levinson began his career in comedy, making funny business for T.V. variety shows during the 1960s and early '70s. He's generally known as a man of humor, and eventually enjoyed a brief reign as an A-list director, making hits and scoring Oscar gold with pictures such as "Rain Man," "Good Morning, Vietnam," and "The Natural." Before such glory was achieved, Levinson was just a screenwriter trying to find a way into Hollywood, getting an early taste of the business with 1975's "Street Girls," which is meant to be a severe look at a crisis involving a young woman caught up in worlds of drug addiction and human trafficking, with her father out to find his lost child before it's too late. It's somber material handed to director Michael Miller ("Jackson County Jail," "National Lampoon's Class Reunion"), who doesn't have much money to realize the abyssal pain of the premise, showing more interest in the exploitation aspects of the production, which offers plenty of nudity, unsavoriness, and violence. True to form, Levinson also brings many laughs to the feature, though they're all unintentional. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com