Search - Plain Dirty on DVD

The movie title says it all...

Bruce E. Munck | Gaston, SC United States | 07/05/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I sat through the entire movie, and while I did enjoy it I couldn't shake the aversion to all of the dirt. Everybody lived in absolute squalor except for the so-called "rich" folks. I have been around my share of country people and for the most part they have been clean and orderly folks. Contrast that to the characters in this flick who live in the most sickening of environments with dirt everywhere, dishes that appear to have never been washed, bugs crawling all over the kitchen...yechhhhh!!! Even the people themselves stayed covered in dirt for the whole movie. Real people don't live that way. The plot is good, the acting okay, and the ending pretty well fits with the storyline, so I can't give it fewer than three stars. Give the cast a bath and put them in more normal surroundings and it would be worth four stars. However, an argument could be made that the story needed this type of set to play out properly...I'm just saying it was pretty depressing. The story is set in a swampy area of Virginia and has a fair amount of action and tension. One of the lead characters has two or three marijuana plants growing on his porch and figures he'll be able to sell the pot when it's ready for harvest and make enough to give his wife a better life. Remember, I didn't give it five stars. Turns out the pot is junk and not able to get anyone 'high' so he goes about trying to come up with a way to get some good seeds to plant on his four acres of land. Meanwhile his wife is already working on her own plans for a better life and he suspects it. Throw in a local 'witch' who smokes profusely and reads bones in order to give his wife advice and you have the makings of this movie. Did I mention that this guy is also abusive? After giving our heroine a black eye he explains to her that that's just how he is and she needs to remember who she married. A real sweetheart of a guy! Of course there's also the demented friend of the husband who gets corralled into watching the wife and making sure she stays chained up while the husband is away. Well, you had to figure somebody would die and sho' nuff it happens. The local police woman appeared overly aloof and didn't seem to connect a body in a ditch with murder. She was ready to accept that it was either suicide or accidental death without so much as doing an investigation. She would never be a candidate for a part in CSI. This movie is worth watching if you can stomach the filth and don't mind the lack of startling twists. You the viewer are privileged to see everything that happens, which means, among other things, that you are never shocked by something unexpected. Not a lot of gore in this one, and only the slightest fleeting glimpse of nudity. Just as well since a naked woman covered in dirt would be less than arousing. Buy it...don't buy it...the choice is yours. I only rated it three stars because it would not be my first choice for a movie to watch. Enjoyable...for some, arguably, yes; for others, no."