A Dirty Shame

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.

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.

I can't say I've seen many of John Waters' films, but I've seen enough to get an idea of what he's about; and A Dirty Shame would appear to be a typical John Waters film. All of the jokes in the film come from sexual perversions, and it's not hard to see why a number of people don't like it - as if you thought Serial Mom was a difficult film to get along with, wait until you see this one! To be honest, I'm not completely sure of whether I liked it or not; on the one hand, I respect the director for daring to go further than many directors would dare...but on the other hand, it's amazingly silly and the central ideas behind the plot don't hold much weight. There are some really good one-liners in the film, however, and the surreal nature of the way the plot plays out is a delight. The story follows a prudish housewife named Silvia who hates sex, and the fact that her daughter is a sex symbol named 'Ursula Udders'. However, after hitting her head one day; she comes into contact with a man named Ray Ray, a 'sexual healer', and it's not long before she discovers that she is, in fact, a sex-addict.

I'm sure that the main reason why John Waters has so many fans is because of his willingness to take risks. This film is full of risks; some of which work. The cast list isn't typical, with popular American comedienne Tracey Ullman taking the lead role and performing well in the more lurid scenes. Selma Blair stars alongside an enormous pair of fake breasts, while there are support roles for the likes of Chris Isaak and Suzanna Shepherd. The biggest risk where the cast is concerned is undoubtedly Jackass' Johnny Knoxville, who is a lot better than you would think. Waters has seen fit to have a lot of scenes play out to music, and this works well some of the time. The way that certain words (such as 'Whore') pan out across the screen is good, but personally I didn't like the use of CGI. The film gets off to a really good start, and I laughed more in the first half hour than in any film I've seen recently; but it takes a bit of a downturn in the middle, and never fully recovers. The film is good because you never really know where Waters is going with it, and the full on orgy of the last twenty minutes is bound to divide audiences. Overall, this film is in extreme bad taste; but it's also a great laugh. However, if you haven't liked whatever Waters' films you've seen so far - I wouldn't recommend seeing this one.

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.

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.