Dirty Weekend

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.

Only posting in reference to the user review saying it was trying to be cool like Breaking Bad for filming in Albuquerque.

Your opinion on the rest of the film's elements are as valid as anyone's opinions. But you're clearly unaware that the New Mexico Film Office gives/gave out favorable tax credits [$$$] for productions to shoot in N.M.

That's why they filmed there.

Same goes for productions that shoot in New Orleans, Atlanta, etc.

Hell, even California started taking applications a couple months ago for tax credits in order to lure filming back to the state.

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.

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.

I kept waiting for this movie to come together and make any kind of point, but sadly it never did. On top of which, Matthew Broderick is just plain awful and torture to watch.

Ahhh, Matthew, you've gone from WarGames, Ferris, Biloxi, and even Election, to this? You used to be cool denim and now your dusty polyester. Time to hang it up dude. Your incessant whining made me nauseous and just killed the credibility of the film. In real life nobody would last two seconds listening to you.

Other than being sickened by Broderick, the movie was pointless and I think they were trying to be cool in a Breaking Bad sort of way shooting in Albuquerque but it never really came off that way.

One bright spot was Alice Eve. I can watch her all day. She's an absolutely captivating actress and should be getting closer to a breakout film than a resume buster like this one.

In the end, watching this movie was a dreadful waste of time.