Review of Dirty Filthy Love (2005) by Kat K — 15 Dec 2009

Definitely a performance piece.

Dirty Filthy Love stars Michael Sheen (Mark Furness), Anastasia Griffith (Stevie), and Shirley Henderson (Charlotte). It centers around Mark, who has recently gotten a trial separation from his wife Stevie, and had to take stress leave from work as an architect. His therapist insists that this behavior is caused by depression, but in fact, he has severe OCD and the onsets of tourettes, which he soon learns when encountering Charlotte.

I have to start off by saying that I wasn't too impressed by the style of directing, which was dizzying and clumsy most times. Other times the camera was too close or often shook rounding corners. Pretty much the overall feel is that it's a small-release, independent type of movie. You'll see what I mean when you watch it. There are, however, a few shots of stairwells that were interesting to look at from the perspective provided.

What was really enjoyable was the acting. The plot drifts smoothly between comedy and drama nicely without disrespecting its purpose. Sheen delivers yet another phenomenal performance, balancing perfectly the comedic, the affecting and the hard-hitting. Stewart Wright (as Rhodri) delivers an emotional tear-jerking scene describing his character's daughter. I would have placed the camera to the side, but that's my personal taste. Bhasker Patel (as Hasim) was off and on, but was not given much material to work with.

The score really stood out, particularly towards the last few scenes where Mark was completely unraveling-- he crashes a party to confront Stevie and Charlotte comes to defend him. This was, in my opinion, the best part of Shirley's performance, later following Mark's character to the beach. Piano and violins can be a dangerous mixture in the wrong hands, but it not only fit the scene, it was quite beautiful and puts you right into the mindset of the moment for the characters. I enjoyed the dialog- particularly in the end, which finished the film and climax just right.

Overall I'd say this wouldn't suit a very wide audience; but if you're up for it, it takes the topic of relationships and physical handicaps and adds just enough levity to give you hope for the characters. I would suggest renting alone on a quiet night to see if you like it.

Rating 6.5/10.