Dirty Filthy Love

This unusual movie was very well done, but overlong. The story arc is predictable, but the journey is worth the ride.

The odd camera angles do indeed help us feel Mark's discomfort. Even in casual conversations we alternate between overly tight head shots and very long shots; the camera never allows us to become comfortable with the situation.

I disagree with Missipecac in one area only. This film does indeed directly laugh at, and allow us to laugh at, the traits of OCD. I noticed, however, that this only happened between OCD sufferers. The outsiders in the film never laughed. They were always uncomfortable, frightened, distant, or confused. And the viewer was never given the opportunity to laugh in these situations.

It was only when the OCD sufferers could let their guard down and laugh (instead of crying) that the viewer could laugh along with them.

The predictableness of the plot did make for a movie that was too long. It could have been a good 10-15 minutes shorter. Even so, there was one obvious reference to a scene that was cut that I found quite jarring.

I was a spouse of a person with a major mental illness (not OCD). I would have liked to see the wife drawn a bit more fully. There were hints at her underlying sadness, regret, and guilt, but only the tiniest of hints.

I think this movie is a MUCH better examination of OCD than As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson. That movie was insufferably cute. In Dirty Filthy Love, even when you laugh at OCD, you never, ever find it cute or quirky.

I note that, at the time of writing, this page recommends "Love Actually" if you liked "Dirty Filthy Love". People, please understand that the two are *not* alike--"Dirty Filthy Love" is *much* better! It has real people in it, and real comedy, and real heartbreak. And no blockbuster soundtrack with uplifting music on.

The two lead characters suffer from OCD and Tourettes, and meet at a support group. This sounds like it's going to be a very naff film, I know, which is why I was confused when my reliable Guardian TV guide raved on about how it was the treat of the year. But, as usual, they were right--this is a beautiful film with great comedy and great pain. Just of course, like real life. Amazingly, it's very sympathetic to sufferers.

Please, see this if you can, it's a great and moving indie film.

The ever-impressive Michael Sheen plays Mark Furness. We meet Mark as he is just coming to terms with his illness: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Tourette's Syndrome. The increasing toll his illness takes is the breakup of his marriage and the loss of his job as an architect. He joins a self-help group where he meets Charlotte (played by Shirley Henderson) who clearly is the correct partner for him, who happens to be similarly afflicted, but he still obsesses after his estranged wife, amongst other things.

As someone with a close relative who suffers from OCD, I was suspicious of this TV film. I thought it may be either insensitive or on the other hand schmaltzy. I was pleased to find out that the film was neither. I suspect one or both of the writers and/or the director is familiar with OCD as the film is funny without being exploitative and heartbreaking without being schmaltzy.

The greatest credit has to go to both Michael Sheen and Shirley Henderson, the lead actors. Both were absolutely excellent when the temptation for some actors in this position could have been to go over the top. Michael Sheen is sure to be a big name soon.

Beginning with a smart script by Jeff Pope and Ian Puleston-Davies (the latter a fine actor who happens to be afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and under the inordinately delicate direction of Adrian Shergold, DIRTY FILTHY LOVE is one of the more sensitive examinations of two challenges that affect the lives of many people throughout the world: Tourette's Syndrome (complete with tics and uncontrollable inappropriate outbursts of foul language, noises, shouts), and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (lives complicated by the need for order imposed by the patient's mind as a series of repeated behaviors that protect the person from the terror of living in a chaotic world). Wrongly titled (a title that probably prevents many people from seeing this little miracle of a film) and incorrectly billed as a comedy (which is most certainly not), DIRTY FILTH LOVE is one of those films that slipped by us all without a theatrical release but now is thankfully available on DVD. It deserves full attention.

Mark Furness (played with superlative skill by Michael Sheen) is an architect on leave due to his progressive illnesses (see above) and who is first seen in the throes of beginning a trial separation from his beloved wife Stevie (Anastasia Griffith) who can no longer live under the same roof with Mark's 'inexplicable' behavior patterns. Left alone with the anxiety over his surfacing deterioration from his physical challenges, Mark finds solace with his close friends who also tire of his behavior and insist he seek medical help. In the waiting room of a deaf-eared doctor Mark 'meets' Charlotte (the astonishingly fine character actor Shirley Henderson) and Charlotte, who happens to suffer from both Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as well as trichotillomania (uncontrolled pulling out hair strands to the point of baldness), senses a man who needs help. Charlotte tells Mark of a group therapy session for people with similar problems and Mark, out of desperation, joins the group (a fascinating group of actors imbuing their disease states without the least sign of parody).

It is obvious rather early on that Charlotte is attracted to Mark, but Mark's life is one directed toward making himself acceptable to Stevie. With a powerful confrontation at a very social party Mark realizes he suffers from a disease state he has had since birth and the only one who really cares about his dilemma and understands his turmoil is Charlotte: a strange love affair is finally recognized.

Scripts such as this are all too rare and when brought to the screen with the exceptional acting and direction rendered by this crew they become films that should be required viewing. In every way these are brilliant performances by Michael Sheen and by Shirley Henderson, yet because the film never received a theatrical release in this country (probably due to the factors mentioned above) it will be ignored by the Oscars. But awards are only momentary returns for art pieces of this caliber and this one is destined for a long shelf life. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

The genre, Movies of the Afflicted, generally suffers from too much sentiment and too little cash. This TV production holds its own as a TV movie from the production standpoint. A bit choppy. A few too many loose ends, even for those of us without acute OCD. However, the efforts of Michael Sheen and Shirley Henderson give this film a lot of genuine heart. A somewhat sentimental portrayal perhaps, but with a sincerity that cannot be outweighed. The good that a production like this can do more than justifies the value of the project from the get-go, but this production manages to play better than a manual, aimed at adolescents. I think there is something truly unique in the British tradition of acting that raises productions like these a peg or two above their American equivalents.