Dirty Beautiful

David, a struggling writer, meets Kat, who has a tragic past and an abusive ex-boyfriend. As they spend time together, David sees Kat's destructive behavior first-hand. And he is in over his head. They must change and grow to try and make it work. Great cinematography and interesting story. Well done.

1. This review penned June 2016 at a time when the ONLY reviews on the IMDb were -- "coincidentally" -- from members who -- "mysteriously" -- had all joined at EXACTLY the same time, had all left only one single review for posterity (of this film, DUH) and all thought it was the greatest thing since Godfather or Star Wars or sliced bread. So, in the interest of fair coverage, I wanted to offer a slightly more objective review from a member with more than one review to his credit. That would be me.

2. A newbie to romcoms might be forgiven for thinking that Woody Allen invented the "mismatched couple" trope with Annie Hall, but this is not true. If you go back to the golden age of film (the 1930s and 1940s) you will find a number of these kinds of scripts, mostly B movies, but many with big names like Harlow and Arthur. Allen does get credit perhaps for deconstructing this kind of story (more than once, in fact) and then rebuilding it, taking it to a new level for the modern viewer.

3. Which of course is precisely what writer/Director Bartell had in mind with Dirty Beautiful. Deconstucting the "mismatched couple" story and then rebuilding it, hopefully, into something new and different. Bartell does succeed -- for about 10 minutes. The setup is great. A clearly neurotic young man for whom women are a complete mystery stumbles across a homeless girl (hot, bright, chatty) who basically has only two questions, DO YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND and DO YOU WANT ONE? Great concept. If they gave Oscars for a logline, this would get a nomination. But they don't. Good films need more than a clever setup.

4. The film peaks at about the 15:00 minute mark and if you stick it out, you will end up almost as neurotic as the central character. The chemistry between the two principles is not there. The script and direction falter. The first person narrative (talking into the camera, as if to the viewer) gets old real fast. If this film were an elevator, it starts at the top floor and just keeps dropping during the run-length.

7. I think my rating is fair. I think everyone involved -- Bartell and his stars -- are capable of doing better. Woody Allen is not staying up nights worried about losing his niche.

8. If you really really want to see this storyline done to perfection, I recommend MY SASSY GIRL, the original 2001 version, in Korean, with subs. (There are multiple remakes of the original, and you can ignore them all.) It is essentially "as good as it gets" for this theme. And entertaining as hell.

The characters are interesting but a lot of their choices sort of felt unrealistic. It was an interesting setup/storyline but didn't feel like it really paid off in the end. It was very well shot and the performances were enjoyable. Worth a watch for sure!

This film is excellent! The conundrum that fuels this funny/tragic story is all too familiar to anyone who's been in a toxic relationship (or a few). I so enjoyed how brutally honest Dirty Beautiful is. While the behaviors that fuel the chaos in the film touch on the extreme, the premise is entirely relatable for most of us: it takes two to make a relationship crazy. And I honestly couldn't tell who I sided with more in the relationship. She's an agent of chaos. He's an agent of control. Both cross every line, but they just spiral back inward, toward each other. Like some primal magnet. Again--relatable. The performances are really, really good and so much of the dialogue felt like it must have been pulled from some very real experiences. Both of those things working in harmony brought about a superb energy. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This was such a treat. I love this kind of tales and filmmaking where you can really feel the characters and their struggles but also have a good time. I especially loved the lead actor and the camera work is beautiful! Looking forward to seeing more work by Bartell.