Review of A Dirty Shame (2004) by Alisha J — 20 Apr 2008

As part of my movies with sexual themes series, I am reviewing/watching all of John Waters' work. This is the one that got an NC-17 after the MPAA review board had to compile a list of believed sexual acts that the board was unfamiliar with that they wished Mr. Waters to explain (great interview where he talks about that in the famous doc 'This Film Is Not Yet Rated').

This is like the plot of Footloose, except instead of dancing, it is "sexual anarchy" that the "liberated" are fighting for.

Johnny Knoxville is able to stand up to the always brilliant Tracy Ullman, which surprised me because of his Jackass start to his career. This is a straight-forward comedy romp, and unlike most modern comedies, is comedic (these are really the only kind I bother to write about). If you ever wondered what Waters would do if he had CGI in the budget, this film answers that question with some screwing squirrels and a real big money shot (no you have not seen a bigger one and if you have send it to me).

My only complaint is that instead of continuing jokes centered around a character's favorite sexual activity, just keep going down the list and adding more and more people with more and more sexual proclivities. Across the span of Waters' career, he's covered many sexualities, and this movie has about thirty new ones, so I'm really being a blossomed anal bitch about that.

Another fantastic thing I can say about this movie is that I wasn't able to get through it without a wank intermission. "Let's go SEXIN!!!".