Dirty Weekend

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.

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 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.

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.

Has too low a rating of very few people when I write this review, deserves more. Maybe because the story is somewhat un-American, minor references to uncommon sex and all that. Where the mise-en-scene and a humdrum title translates in underacting, perhaps to the disappointment of an expectant but misguided demographic, not expecting acting but enactment.

Alice Eve, plays antagonist business sales colleague Natalie, the somewhat aloof Brit girl 'everyone in the office wants to f^%k but not me' our confused, married and square protagonist proclaims.

Matthew Broderick's acting is really Matthew Broderick's acting, and never falls short. Alice Eve has a slow start, where perhaps the direction is to blame. When the story progresses she transforms from the plastic impersonation of a stereotype Brit professional woman to the warm sometimes-vulnerable girly person in great stride, quite smoothly and with a great performance.

This is a 'New York style' actors movie with really just two actors. Phil Burke did good in his the cameo-like 'Cabbie' appearance. There is no further production value whatsoever.

Alice Eve is a genuine gem in this one.