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A DIRTY SHAME Send This Review to a Friend
Almost nothing on film is shocking anymore. The trouble with “A Dirty Shame,” the new flick by John Waters flaunting bad taste, a specialty of his, is that it becomes more silly and boring than funny or maturely satirical. The early part of the film, set in Baltimore and showcased at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival, has some laughs as Waters sets up his premise. Tracey Ullman as Sylvia Stickles grimaces at the very thought of sex, which leads her husband to self-amusement in the bathroom. Their super-boobed daughter is kept locked in her room to inhibit her mania for sex. The visual look of the film colorfully suggests a contrasting sedate suburban setting.
One day Sylvia gets a knock on the head, which induces her to become as sex crazed as her daughter. It seems there is a metaphysical society at work. Head bumps initiate one into craving sex, and the unleashed Sylvia sets off on a mission to find a sexual position nobody has yet tried. Most of the laughs end early. Ullman, who can be a very funny performer, does extract gross comedy when Sylvia picks up a bottle with her you-know-what while doing the “Hokey Pokey” with a group at an old age home. The comedy goes downhill from there.
Waters packs his film with gross images, appendages, nutty encounters, special effects and what not. The result becomes neither shocking nor amusing but numbing. Unfortunately there is no head knock that can turn this mess into a good film. “Hairspray,” the movie, was clunky but funny and nostalgic and yielded a Broadway show. This one merely yields embarrassment. A Fine Line Features release.
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