DVD

The Deuce (18) ★★★★, HBO’s latest long-form drama, is a bit of a surprise. Yes, it’s full of naked guys and gals, but I defy anyone to enjoy looking at them. Conceived by George Pelecanos and David Simon (who both worked on The Wire), The Deuce is set in Seventies New York and the burgeoning porn industry.

Even for those of us not shocked by the idea that human beings like sex, it’s a grimy experience. James Franco plays both Vincent and Frankie Martino – one a nice guy, the other not – vigorously in Method mode. Vigorously but in vain: when a part is this contrived, no amount of naturalism will feel real. Thankfully, The Deuce is interesting enough to get you past its laboured central turn. There’s Maggie Gyllenhaal, above, an actress of such luminescence she can transform herself from hooker to worried mum just by removing a bubble-perm wig.

But for all its commodification of sex, this is, I think, a feminist drama. Women might enjoy it more than men. Thankfully, guys, it’s a good week for trash thrillers. LA Vengeance (15) ★★★ is a logic-free Bruce Willis shoot-’em-up redeemed by some surreally inventive sub-plots.

The Shanghai Job (15) ★★stars Orlando Bloom as a chap transporting expensive china out of… China. Bloom has fun karate-ing his way through a strikingly lit Shanghai while sporting a peroxide rinse.