Dirty Weekend

Workmates Les Moore (Matthew Broderick) and Natalie Hamilton (Alice Eve) are flying from L.A. to Dallas when they are forced to land in Albuquerque. He's grumpy and heads into town. She reluctantly joins him.

This is a small indie. The two actors don't have much to play with. They're not even a couple and they don't know much about each other. They are essentially both playing the deadpan straight man. There is nothing truly holding them together. It needs to be much more a quirky adventure. It's as interesting as watching me walk around downtown and I'm not that interesting. The first act is flatly dull with low level quirky turns that go nowhere. She reveals something about her lesbian relationship and he can't let go.of a past sexual experience. Their secrets aren't as interesting as hoped for. It might be groundbreaking twenty years ago. Writer/director Neil LaBute's best work may be that long ago. It's a lot of talk with scarce humor. This is a layover hoping for a destination.

This is not a great movie, so if you are looking for one, skip it. That being said, it is certainly not a bad film. The acting is good, the subject is interesting and the overall mood is that of a road movie.

You have these two coworkers in some company that is not revealed, as it means nothing to the story, stuck in "Albu-Quirky" until weather gets better in Dallas. One of them is Matthew Broderick, a middle aged man that seems to want to go to the town center for some reason, and the other is Alice Eve, his efficient and professional female counterpart who won't leave him alone. By the time the movie ends, we know more about the two characters and what their inner struggles are and they have bonded as good friends - and not romantically.

Now, the pace is slow, the humor is mostly character based, manifesting as various quirks of the people in the film, the moral is that what happens in Albuquerque stays in Albuquerque and the meat of the film is talking and again talking. I actually went to IMDb to check if it was a Woody Allen movie in which he chose not to star for a change. It is not. It is another Neil LaBute story that he both writes and directs.

While I won't recommend this film, I can't say that you should stay away from it, either. It is an unspectacular road movie, where you get to understand more of human nature.

It seemed like an attempt at Ferris taking Albuquerque, but without the solid humor. Too bad, but at least his co-star will attract some audience. Broderick seemed like he wasn't happy about the script and even tried to play it too straight. Or maybe he wasn't happy the layover was in Albuquerque.

I haven't seen much of Eve, but she should have at least let her hair down earlier during the layover , that would have been a bit more realistic. I've never been to the town , but they did a great job of making it seem like a very small town without many people. Not sure if that was intentional but seemed odd nonetheless.

This is your typical sort of indie film.

Not funny enough to be a comedy, not dramatic enough to be a drama.

It takes two actors 'trying to do something different' and is one of those talky affairs that are always hit and miss.

The premise is limited and unfortunately doesn't go anywhere. There's some nice moments and interactions, but it funs out of steam somewhere around the mid-point.

Both the main actors (Matthew Broderick and Alice Eve) are good in what they are given to do, but this never becomes anything more than a pleasant exercise for both.

Alice Eve has done a far better version of this in 'Before We Go', a film I recommend much more highly.

7.1 of 10. What may be best described as Matthew Broderick as the middle-aged version of one of the characters in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" once again exploring the suppressed desires of a well-behaved, obedient member of America's corporate, Christian society. He also has a plan for this time off, but it doesn't go quite the way he intends.

Instead of exploring high school or middle-aged males relationships, it looks at more of a seeming fantasy situation between Broderick's character and his young, hot, UK/Aussie accented co-worker as their flight gets seemingly interrupted and the connection delayed.

Alice Eve puts in a great supporting performance and Broderick fits his ordinary organization-man role well. What the film lacks is an original soundtrack/score and more originality in views and dealing with issues along with the relatively safe happy ending. Nonetheless, definitely worth a watch, whether on a layover or not.