A Dirty Shame

I'm a follower of John Waters but this newest entry in the Baltimore auteur's canon is strictly for true blue fans - and even I kept thinking that his DVD commentary would be more interesting than the actual film. There are plenty of laughs in DIRTY, for sure. And Ullman is just as terrific as Kathleen Turner was in SERIAL MOM - hysterical! Johnny Knoxville and Chris Isaac do well, too. But half-way through the film, Waters abandons his well-cast characters in favor of a far-out concept that equates promiscuity with religious fervor. Therein lies the film's downfall. Ullman's personal plight (a concussion that causes her to become a sex fiend, much to the dismay of most of her family) is put on the back burner in favor of a larger canvas - just the same way that Cecil B. DeMented got lost in his kooky band of film misfits and shutterbug Pecker disappeared into the sycophantic New York art scene. The ultimate fadeout is confusing and unsatisfying but if you leave before the last half hour you might have time to rush to Blockbuster to rent DESPERATE LIVING, an earlier Waters cheapie that pushes many of the same buttons, but seems infinitely better.

John Waters' satirical 2004 release "A Dirty Shame" was the controversial film that attained an NC-17, and basically was unable to be edited for an R-rating. Waters' film is very disgusting at times, sometimes even vile in its matter-of-fact portrayal of various sexual fetishes (some of which are admittedly fun-looking, while others are just plain foul and hilarious), which to be honest is expected of his films. And oddly, the characters are all well-played and likable. This is a film I have trouble rating. It isn't his best film, but it is ultimately enjoyable, despite some serious flaws.

Tracy Ullman stars as Sylvia, a "neuter" (someone who is repressed sexually) in a small town that is obvious very repressed and uptight. However, within the community exists a growing group of people who have experienced a sexual awakening (mainly due to head injuries), and are very open with their fantasies. When Sylvia experiences a head injury and is awakened, she meets with "sex saint" Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville) who introduces her to the world of open sexual fetishes, as he and his followers search for the ultimate fetish.

The film is very much a sexual cartoon, and often is full of exaggerated ideas, dialog and imagery. Waters employs all sorts of tactics (everything from gags, on-screen subtitles, suggestive set dressing, etc.) to illustrate a town that is repressed while still being exposed to sexuality, and the characters are all very interesting. I didn't even mention Selma Blair as Ullman's daughter- a woman who has enormous implants that are practically bigger than the rest of her body.

The film is also quite funny (particularly a scene that will make you look at the "Hokey-Pokey" in a whole new way), with some great gags and hilarious dialog, as well as trademark over-the-top jokes. A lot of "queasy" laughs are also brought in by the descriptions of various fetishes (many of which are real) and occasionally by seeing them played out by our "awakened" characters. Although this is one of the problems- the film does go overboard at times, and a lot of the gags don't quite fit in, and interrupt the flow.

In addition, it isn't made particularly well- certain effects give themselves away, the plot does get sloppy, and after a while, the content will weigh on your patience. You will wish that more "plot" would happen.

That being said, there is still a lot of fun to be had, just don't expect this to be Waters' masterpiece. I give it a slightly above average 6 out of 10.

The perverts have invaded the neighborhood and we're not going to take it anymore! Gays and lesbians are everywhere as well as all kinds of disgusting lewd behavior. Well, what are the righteous citizens to do? Organize and try to get rid of them, but they're outnumbered!

Thus seems to be the premise for this hysterical John Waters picture. The promise for an irreverent take on pornography in suburbia dissolves as soon as it starts. Mr. Waters shows a milder side to himself, as it's been the case in his latest movies. But with that said, even a minor Waters is a hilarious one. Sure, the jokes get a bit stale, but the film has so many funny situations that anyone with an open mind will appreciate this kind of humor.

Tracey Ullman blends the perfect amount of seriousness and insanity playing her Sylvia Stickles, the woman who comes alive as she is hit in the head! Her scene at the nursing home playing the Hokey Pokey will become a classic Waters moment. Chris Isaak, Selma Blair, Suzanne Shepherd and Johnny Knoxville are also good.

Tracey Ullman does some priceless double-takes in this John Waters comedy, playing uptight wife and mother in a Baltimore suburb who gets a rap on the noggin and becomes a sex addict. A shabby-looking enterprise with scrappy editing, this would seem amateurish even for a first-time director, but Waters certainly doesn't seem to mind. As a filmmaker, he is gleefully puckish, with a heightened sense of the ridiculous, and as usual he gets his cast to ride right along on his coattails. Selma Blair is Ullman's daughter, who has "mutilated her mammaries"; Chris Isaak is Tracey's husband who also gets a knock on the head and dreams of musclemen posing; Johnny Knoxville is a sex guru/auto mechanic; Suzanne Shepherd is Ullman's mother, Big Ethel, who runs the Park and Pay. Relatively short film isn't compact (the final reel is just a lot of hamming and running around) but the first-half has some laugh-out-loud moments and the whole picture benefits from Ullman's work--she's a stitch. **1/2 from ****

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.