Review of Dirty Pretty Things (2002) by Simone R — 25 Jun 2007

Intriguing and insightful. I'd seen bits and pieces of this film over the past few years, but just got around to watching it in its entirety. The story was great and the world of illegal immigrants and black market organ selling kept me involved.

Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, annd Sophie Okonedo performed beautifully, as expected. Sergi Lopez (Juan) was great also. The only gripe I have with the film, and my reason for giving it three stars rather than four was the main character, Okwe.

Although all the characters were portrayed beautifully, the main character was far too righteous to me. I know he was supposed to be an all around good guy, but he didn't have to be so squeaky clean in order to convey that.

I wanted him to perform the surgery in order to save the little girl in the picture's life. His having a young daughter would have made that very powerful. It would've been great if he had done it and felt conflicted and angry with himself afterward.

I think a situation of that caliber would have made Okwe more human.