Dirt (2001) Poster

(2001)

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6/10
Dummies can be charming as this funny but slight film attests
inkblot1116 March 2017
Junior (Michael Covert) and Scooter (Tracy Fraim) are dimwit brothers in West Texas. Their father was a meanie, but he died long ago, and Mama took good care of her boys. Now adults, the siblings have just buried Ma out in the desert near their home. Who is going to mother them now? These intellectual midgets don't hold jobs and have never cooked or cleaned. So, what's the solution? First, the duo tries picking up a hooker (Jennifer Tilly) who assures them she will take care of them. After the money exchange, Ms Hook slips out the bathroom window. Junior and Scooter are miffed. On the next go- round, the brothers try kidnapping a lovely grocery clerk, DeDe (Tara Chocol) with mixed results. At first, she's terrified of course, but she's been looking for a way to leave her abusive sheriff hubby, Vincent (Patrick Warburton). So, she will agree to be a housemaid for them if the sibs will help rescue her darling baby from Vince's clutches. They do. Now, the oddest family is sticking together in their remote home. But, more complications arise as the wife beating sheriff is hot on their trail and a sweet-but-stupid bank clerk, Margaret, falls for Scooter. Out in the lovely but harshly barren West Texas landscape there is turmoil! Perhaps the title is a giveaway, ha, for a less than highbrow movie but dummies can be charming and fun. All the players here, not well known, are talented and funny. Likewise, the desert setting is intriguing and lovely while the costumes, script, and lively direction are made to measure. No, folks down in Texas may not like the depiction of dimwits in their great state but if they are smart, they will laugh along with the rest of the movie audience.
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6/10
COHEN STYLE COMEDY
nogodnomasters2 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I was disappointed in the small role of Jennifer Tilly, who would have made a better lead. The dialogue was good. It was funny for what wasn't said, then what was. A man says of his daughter, "She is still technically a virgin." Okay, what does that really mean and why would her father know? Two grown brothers can't handle the day to day aspects of life without a mother. After attempting several times to hire a prostitute for maid service, they opt instead to kidnap a woman. Her life is so miserable, living with the unlikable Patrick Warburton, that she decides to stay with them. Does everyone in Texas wear Buddy Holly glasses? In the typical twist, the audience roots for the law breakers. The movie reminded me very much of "Raising Arizona," but not nearly as good.
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9/10
Homespun black comedy with lots of charm and laughs
baaart2 May 2001
I also saw this film at The Los Angeles Film Festival, and what a joy! It made me think of the kinds of great films the Coen brothers used to make before people gave them a lot of money. An outstanding example of what a film maker can accomplish with great material, charming actors, and a cinematographer who knows how to shoot a picture, even when you're dealing with a limited budget. This film is full of gun humor without being overtly violent, and yet when it does pull the violence trigger, usually gets laughs instead of blood. Ironically this film also delivers a very real emotional punch. The best American films always deliver their heros in the end with some sort of salvation, and this film doesn't disappoint. It's not conventional, but definitely leaves you feeling good about the human condition and the possibilities that love can bring, even in the most diverse ways. A true gem, it will be a sad statement on the state of Hollywood if some company doesn't give this flick a theatrical release so audiences everywhere can embrace it.
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Sweet and genuinely funny
domola29 July 2002
Junior and Scooter's mother dies and they kidnap a woman from a supermarket car-park to replace her, bringing her psychotic husband after them. The plot may sound a little hokey but the actors flesh out any holes and it's so good humoured, you cease to worry if it's believable. Patrick Warburton, as the husband, is also genuinely scary. I went to see this film on a Friday afternoon, straight from work feeling tired and stressed. I left the auditorium smiling and feeling happy with the world. This is that sort of film. It's sweet in a good way. I had a genuine affection for all the characters and I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. It's a pity it's unlikely ever to get a commercial release in Australia.
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10/10
Darkly satirical, ala the Coen Bros., but much funnier!
plazaent15 July 2001
What a pleasant surprise, to laugh oneself sore during a film festival screening of a sleeper independently produced film! This one is going to be a HUGE winner, as I'm sure the word will filter out through hipsters and sites such as "aint-it-cool-news.com" You deserve a break today... watch for, and go see "DIRT." You'll be glad you did!
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10/10
I love this film
pynchonv9 August 2002
I love this film. It has a meandering and unrealistic plot and was shot on a shoestring budget but, man...I love this film. It's not a perfect film, it may not even be a good film. But its gritty imperfections combine to make it even more emotionally affecting and, well, lovable. There's a dozen things to which I could point and say, "That should have been better" or "That's totally out of place" but, if I were given the option, I wouldn't change a thing (well...the orchestral swells in the last five minutes of the film make my teeth hurt. But, other than that, not a thing!). This is cinema that is authentically and movingly human. Its soul shines irresistibly through the quirky tone and budget constraints.

Come on, movie people! License this film and release it in some format so I can see it in a non-film-festival form! Not that film festivals aren't wonderful, but a much larger group of people deserve to see the wonderful human confusion that is Dirt.

I love this film.
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8/10
Great little film
lukerazor5 May 2003
Don't believe the rating above 4.7 ???? read the other comments this is a great little film.

It has a real deadpan pacing and a lovely dark edge, but when it came to the redemption it didn't seem t forced. Why can't more American films be like this?
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10/10
my mom (Cody Rogers) and her dog were in this movie lmao
amethystfandom8 April 2023
She tried so hard to hide this from me for so long but I finally got my dad to tell me the name of the movie. Thanks dad you're a real one.

I looked EVERYWHERE for a video/streamable version but I couldn't find it. I almost gave up hope but then I remembered the magic of DVDs and amazon delivery service. I got it for like $5 gently used and popped it into my DVD player.

This movie was hilarious! It has that early 2000's raunchy humor that is "too offensive" for movies today. Jennifer Tilly, the love of my life, great to see you as always.

In the scene where the Junior and Scooter are in the bar talking to their neighbor, a small black dog can be seen running around on the floor. That was my mom's beloved little lhasa apso, Sukoshi. She had him for several years and he unfortunately passed away not quite a year after I was born in 2003.

Now this story I had heard about at a very early age, around the time Emperor's New Groove came out.

All my mom told us was that she had been in a movie with Patrick Warburton, but my dad chimed in and said that in the house party scene she was an extra in, SHE WAS MAKING OUT WITH HIM. Of course my siblings and I thought this was hilarious and we started chanting "MOM KISSED KRONK." Seeing that on screen in front of me over 20-something years after it happened was so strange. Like, that's my MOM, kissing MF PATRICK WARBURTON😭

Mom if you ever see this, no you didn't <3.
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Dumber than......what again?
UglyToesPete21 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Dirt. Dumb. Dumber.

The three dastardly D's.

A masterpiece.

Only the shallow would view inbreeding, rape, beatings, gun toting alchoholics as less than pure entertainment. With today's hypocritical political correctness brought to the extreme edge of what can be swallowed, this is a refreshing breath of foul air.

If inbred country beer-swilling southern Americans well armed that just lost their mommy looking for the perfect whore-cook-mommy-nanny not make you run home with this video then I give up.

I would stand in line (like I do for a Céline Dion concert) for a week if need be to watch this one more time.

Utopia on screen.

Run.

UTP in Montréal.
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Saw it at L.A.F.F. and loved it!
PhxFilmGeek23 April 2001
It's been said that "It's the little things that count...", and in this case, it's the plethora of little touches that work to make this film a truly fun and funny ride.

I had the opportunity to see the World Premiere of 'Dirt' at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and I'm still laughing. It did take a while for the film to get revved-up, so to speak, but once it did, it was one of the funniest films I've seen in a very long time. I'm not a critic, so I won't go over every aspect of the film, or spoil any of the cleverly crafted jokes. But, I thought the casting was excellent, right down to the lisping, subtly effeminate lawyer played by Luke Perry (Beverly Hills 90210). Another gem was the part of Margaret played by Olivia Rosewood (Almost Famous). Directors Michael Covert and Trace Fraim, are hysterical as Junior and Scooter, 2 men, still mourning the death of their mother, who set out to find a woman to replace her. What they find is a life of crime riddled with humorous mishaps.

I recommend this movie to anyone in need of a good laugh.
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