"Lipstick" focuses on Chris (Margaux Hemingway), a Los Angeles model working for a lipstick company, who ends up being brutalized and raped in her apartment by her little sister's deranged music teacher/avant-garde composer (Chris Sarandon). After a feisty attorney (Anne Bancroft) fails to get a conviction, Chris is later forced to take matters into her own hands.

Decried as one of the worst films of the '70s, "Lipstick" has been condemned as everything from exploitative trash to a shameless vehicle for the Hemingway sisters. I'm going to play the devil's advocate here and say that, while, yes, the film does edge into the territory of the exploitation film (think 1973's "Thriller"), and yes, a lot of the legal jargon is dumbed down and the script set-up is at times completely arbitrary, this is not nearly as terrible a film as many would lead you to believe.

Lamont Johnson, who previously directed the superb Patty Duke thriller "You'll Like My Mother" in 1972, is behind the camera here, and the film is very stylishly shot. 1970s Los Angeles colors every frame, and the camera work is flashy and slick. Pacing is a bit of an issue here, as the film does have a bizarre narrative trajectory-it rises and falls, rises and falls, and the conclusion is a bit abrupt, which is indicative of the script needing some work. Margaux Hemingway and little sister Mariel play on screen siblings very nicely, both demonstrating considerably acting capability. Sarandon is at times a bit overacting here, but is reprehensible enough. Anne Bancroft plays the no- nonsense attorney perfectly, while Perry King appears briefly in a relatively pointless role as Hemingway's boyfriend/photographer.

The film's second-to-last scene is the real dynamite here, and the reason it's remembered above anything else, although it again is a bit awkwardly paced, and seems to arrive too late to the party. Overall though, "Lipstick" is not as awful of a film as so many have painted it to be. It's no masterpiece, but it is a mildly thrilling, entertaining revenge film, and Margaux Hemingway and Bancroft's performances lend it some serious backbone. 7/10.

There is a significant social statement contained within the body of this harrowing tale. Just where does consensual sensuality leave off and blatant assault begin?

The meager stats for court convictions of males in rape cases speaks to the futility of provable evidence to bring about justice. It's one thing for a woman to experience a violation, yet another to prove it to a jury.

With clever defense attorneys twisting facts around to suggest enticement, women face an uphill battle to overcome reasonable doubt.

"Lipstick" dramatizes such a scenario in graphic terms--possibly so much so that its potent social commentary might become blurred. Just as there can be a fine line between consent and assault, so can there be also between legitimate expose and sleazy exploitation.

The cast, headed by Margeaux and Mariel Hemingway, Chris Sarandon and Anne Bancroft, all invest deep emotion into their roles. It's certainly a sobering enterprise, with little in the way of character background, particularly as to the accused. Other than that he creates what some might consider "weird" art, there's nothing to suggest his rationale for physical abuses of not one, but two, sisters.

All we know of him is that he's a respected educator and dance theater professional. Further, casting handsome Sarandon in the role begs the question, "Why do things the hard way?"

By not addressing character background the scriptor left a decided void, suggesting an interest more on surface than substance. Nor does the film's slick title or glossy production design help raise the product's standard.

When originally shown on the large screen in 1976, it apparently was too much for some audiences, and the film gained a poor rep. Viewed today, while it's still a rough enterprise, it does raise awareness as to the painful plight of abused women. In that regard, the film has relevance--for it does indeed affect us all.