A Dirty Shame

A DIRTY SHAME is a good film but it certainly isn't for everyone. Of all the many films I have seen in my life, this one has (by far) the most pervasive sexuality of any movie--even more than in John Waters' early films. While there is not much nudity at all, I think only about 25 seconds of the film are not intended to be offensive by talking about perversions or showing them (at least in a sanitized manner). Like PINK FLAMINGOS, this film seems to be an experiment by John Waters to see how far he can go and get away with it. In this, case, he seems to be seeing how many sexual references and perversions he can include in a single film. However, given how much things have changed since the early 1970s, apparently you can go amazingly far! Of course, this could be because I saw the DVD version of the film (that is rated NC-17) and not the theatrical rated-R version.

The story is sort of like a fairy tale (or anti-Biblical morality play) set in a Baltimore suburb. In it, strange things happen when people have accidental head injuries--they become sex maniacs with their own particular type of perversion. Most any fetish or weird sex act you could imagine has someone in the town who recently switched to it. I could only think of a few weird sexual hangups that were not in the film and IMDb would probably ban me for even mentioning them or the ones in the film! This town, oddly, has two types of people--pervs and neuters. The neuters think all sex is bad and the pervs are running amok having sex with everything (even trees) and everywhere, even the local quickie mart(!).

When neuter Tracy Ullman receives her head injury, it's something special. The band of pervs leader announced that she is the chosen one--the one who will introduce some new form of perversion that has never been seen before. However, before she can find it, she is hit on the head again accidentally and becomes her old neuter self. It seems that accidental head trauma can make anyone switch back and forth--even Ullman's amazingly slutty daughter (who you just have to see to believe). Will Ullman regain her perversion and come up with the new sex act or will the revolution just fizzle out? Tune in and see.

The film is very funny but very raunchy. If you can watch John Waters' early films (PINK FLAMINGOS, MONDO TRASHO, DESPERATE LIVING or FEMALE TROUBLE), then you are probably a good candidate for the movie. If not, then it's an iffy proposition--this film is offensive in practically every way. If all the smuttiness were to be cut out, this film would be the length of a TV commercial. Seriously.

Oh, and by the way, for the fans of the old John Waters films, Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pearce are both in this film--keep an eye out for them.

I picked this one up from the new releases section of the local DVD rental joint as a bit of a laugh, thanks in large part (excuse the pun) to the hideously large fake breasts that Selma Blair was wearing on the front cover. Johnny Knoxville is also usually a safe bet that you'll get some hilarity. If there was a plot behind the film, it wasn't very clear, however there was plenty of sexual innuendo, straight out sex jokes and plenty of twisted, retarded stuff to get anyone with a decent sense of humour laughing; even if it is because you can't believe they bothered. Some of the acting from the support cast is as you'd expect from a straight to DVD (AUST) movie, but the toilet humour is enough to see it through.

I had fun watching this movie, but, it went on about the same thing forever. Never in my dedicated history of watching John Waters movies was I ever bored. (Incidentally, I haven't seen Cecil B. or Pecker) I could barely watch the last 1/2 hour of this. I kept wondering when it would finally be over.

I applaud this film maker for tackling taboo subjects. Ullman was good+ but, not performing her own material (where I believe she would have excelled).

It was fun and I'm thankful for something other than mindless dreck, but, it left me pining for "desperate living" and "female trouble" which had so much more to offer in the way of outlandish entertainment and featured no big stars (alright, several of them were reaaaally big)!

I miss cuddles.

Waters does a great job at expressing how absurd our government and social efforts to repress sex have become. In a zombie type world where the zombies are the "crazy" people who actually enjoy sex and the "normal" people are the prudes who think all sex is dirty, Waters offers his typically absurd social commentary. I loved it and laughed at times more than I have in months. If you are a prude, conservative, or don't get satire, do yourself and other movie fans a favor and stay home. No in fact, go support the film so Waters can make more of the same. DISCLAIMER: Disregard the above if you don't want the opinion of an open minded, non bible beater.

Depressed puritanical housewife Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman) with a nice but horny husband (Chris Isaak) and a HUGE breasted kid (Selma Blair) is hit on the head one day. It immediately turns her into a raving sex addict and she finds there's a whole group of people like her led by Ray Ray Perkins (Johnny Knoxville).

First off I should mention I saw the 84 minute R rated cut and not the 89 minute NC-17 one. Some of the cuts were obvious as were the voice overdubs but I don't think it changed the movie a lot. What I saw was a typically strange John Waters film with plenty of good moments but it didn't totally work. The main problem is the script is all over the place! The first half of the movie is coherent but the film totally derails during the second half. Complications come on fast and furious and it all ends up not making a lot of sense. The movie is chockful of dialogue discussing frank sexual acts and some incredibly unsubtle imagery. Some of it works but, more often than not, it just doesn't hit its mark. A cameo by David Hasselhoff particularly makes no sense and isn't funny at all. Also the pacing here is atrocious--but that's not uncommon in a Water film. Acting really helps this one. Ullman is fearless here considering some of her very sexually explicit lines and costumes. Blair deserves a lot of credit for wearing these HUGE breasts and making the character sympathetic and believable. Isaak is given little to do but he's good. Best of all is Knoxville who has a real difficult role to play--and pulls it off. So, it has its moments but not enough of them. I can only give this a 5.