Dirty Weekend

source: Dirty Weekend

Decent plot but beware of Mathew Broderick's acting. It is atrocious. Like he didn't understand what he was presenting. Ruined an otherwise fun movie.

The storyline was a bit different than most airport layovers. It needed a bit more of a punch as it was extremely bland. A little better story and direction could have done it....along with a different leading man. Adding Matthew Broderick to the mix is what finished off any hope for this movie. He is such a bad actor I cannot believe he is still offered parts. Alice Eve is great but could only do so much with what she was given.

Alice Eve and Mathew Broderick were great together. I a fan of both. I'm wondering if this was based on a true story? Seemed like it was. Broderick reminded me of Woody Allen vs Ferris Bueller. I mean as the highest compliment. I even checked the credits to make sure it wasn't a woody film.

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.

I liked Matthew Broderick. HE was the coolest dude with all sorts of acting street cred amassed from decades of smart comedy and edgy dramas. When I saw this movie released we all thought 'Cool looking forward to a intelligently written, thought provoking flick with A- list co-star Alice Eve...' Well Director Neil LaBute completely eviscerated what potentially is a tantalizing plot line... co-workers thrust into an unexpected quandary end up exploring and revealing worlds within themselves the viewers find unexpected yet exhilarating. Essentially you don't really know someone until you're stuck with them in an uncomfortable situation and can't do anything about it. In a complete whiff Broderick's character comes across as a sniveling, whiny, creepy old perv sucking the life and vibe out of every scene with Eve from the first take. Many lead roles with questionable character traits are acted with gifted presence and genuine care. This 'effort' by our sole male lead is a roiling dumpster fire. I kept hoping a runway truck would careen into the scene wiping him out permanently from the film. Or Walter White makes a cameo with a dinner plate shard to the jugular ending it all too quickly. Alas no joy.. It is painfully obvious there is zero chemistry between Broderick and Eve, and asking the audience to try and suspend total disbelief that a striking co-worker young enough to be his daughter would eagerly carry on sexually pervasive conversations (and more) for the majority of the film with this walking prostate exam is exceedingly insulting. If you're hoping for delayed parallel plot lines adding depth and texture to the film, or even interesting support roles to help out the drowning lead, your disappointment will only fester all the more.. Add this to many of the movie inconsistencies (flights are canceled due to weather but the airport is shockingly empty in every scene) it just reinforces the bottom line that this slipshod storyboard was pieced together with a hacksaw. But I digress. Let's move onto Alice Eve and her role as the young wistfully optimistic upside to Broderick's gut punch bomb. Eve is an exceedingly smart and talented actress. Why she read this script and decided to give it a go will remain one of Hollywood's (and Albuquerque's) greatest mysteries. She genuinely tries to inject balanced female delicacy with a bona-fide gusto in many of the scenes, but the insipid script and blocky directing throws cold water on the entire effort. Watching Brokerick leer (consciously or not it comes across as just gross. This is no way even close to his role in Election with a young Reese Witherspoon) throughout several scenes at the effervescent Eve will make your skin crawl. She has more successes ahead of her so we'll give her a one-time pass on this miss. Broderick is permanently relegated to an aging has-been that is now viewed in the same light as Ben Stein's character in Ferris... Stodgy, uncool, clod, creep. How sad. LaBute has some major making up to do with his next project. Some reviews will try and convince you this is a dark comedy.. it's genius is found between the lines.. or you've got to look past the script to discover the subtle message about modern sexuality and gender roles.. Don't believe a word of it. Take away the lines and the (total lack of) plot, and just watch how ABQ is portrayed... cheap, dirty, redneck, uninteresting. Contrast to how Breaking Bad was able to capture an entire world of beauty, danger, & intrigue with the same New Mexico backdrop, and you'll agree how big of a flop this amalgam of useless words and nonsense is. Spare yourself 93 minutes of eyelid slicing torment, and grab an old episode or two of Walter White. Now that is on-screen genius I could watch any day of the week.

It is not really a spoiler to tell that this is a gender movie, although not a typical one, because it is dressed up as a lighthearted comedy, which it truly is by the way. 25 minutes into the movie however the only main topic being discussed is if one is gay or not. It has got a clever disguise calling it a "Dirty Weekend" with a gorgeous woman as lead character in it, being stranded on an airport with an older man (Matthew Broderick). But after 25 minutes it turns out that the woman is lesbian and Matthew Broderick isnt sure what he is, but he wants to find out anyway... Even if the story about gender cant arouse much interest, you will be pleased to hear that "Dirty Weekend" can still be enjoyed as a regular, laid back comedy, because Matthew Broderick is his usual stumbling funny character. And even if the girl is lesbian and there is no romance between her and Matthew Broderick, she is still a knockout and has got some pretty sharp comments about Brodericks character, that push the story further into new directions which do surprise. As far as gender movies are concerned, it is nice to see a movie that is suited to be seen by everybody. No sex at all. In a Walt Disney movie you would see more nudity. Charming, very slowpaced, light comedy with some surprising twists. Not great, not bad, just really enjoyable.

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.

I think the others that had commented on this movie are expecting something entirely different. This movie is paced so that it keeps you wondering what is happening, 1. Is there something beyond being colleagues for the two of them? 2. Why is he so anal about going into town, with a lot of cash? 3. Why does she want to come along even though her character really doesn't care one way or another. So much for being Butch. People who can't enjoy the pacing and comedic tone of the movie have issues lol. You're seriously thinking way too much. You may be like the waitress on the potato or the cab driver who thinks it was infer to follow when he was told to wait RIGHT HERE. hahaha As for the attack on Matthew this person needs a reality check. Matthew plays the father, casual sensible in a quirky way character. Calling him dull may actually be a compliment but then again the person may not get it lol. And yea Matthew has age and if you didn't like his "talking" character here how in the hell did you ever enjoy the rest of his previous movies lol. Oh the contradiction! Movie is subtlety funny in a very obscure fashion. You really have to get it for the movie to be remotely watchable lol. Matthew is outright funny, especially the bit where he stops at the you know what shop. hahaha Hey, everyone has different taste in comedy I guess. Enjoy though.

This is not a great movie, so if you are looking for one, skip it. That being said, it is certainly not a bad film. The acting is good, the subject is interesting and the overall mood is that of a road movie. You have these two coworkers in some company that is not revealed, as it means nothing to the story, stuck in "Albu-Quirky" until weather gets better in Dallas. One of them is Matthew Broderick, a middle aged man that seems to want to go to the town center for some reason, and the other is Alice Eve, his efficient and professional female counterpart who won't leave him alone. By the time the movie ends, we know more about the two characters and what their inner struggles are and they have bonded as good friends - and not romantically. Now, the pace is slow, the humor is mostly character based, manifesting as various quirks of the people in the film, the moral is that what happens in Albuquerque stays in Albuquerque and the meat of the film is talking and again talking. I actually went to IMDb to check if it was a Woody Allen movie in which he chose not to star for a change. It is not. It is another Neil LaBute story that he both writes and directs. While I won't recommend this film, I can't say that you should stay away from it, either. It is an unspectacular road movie, where you get to understand more of human nature.