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Movie Review
Dirt
By Lee Tistaert Published March 29, 2003
R
Running Time: 102 minutes
B
A greatly entertaining trip
Despite a title that isn't the most beautiful and insightful one to show up, Dirt is actually quite an enjoyable and well-made picture.
The film is opening in two markets on April 25 (New York and Texas) and holds elements of the Coen brothers? filmmaking flare, but also has a touch of the quirkiness one usually finds in a Barry Levinson production.
Dirt is the story of two Texas brothers (Michael Covert and Tracy Fraim) whose mother has just passed away. The film starts up as the two are riding through the desert, looking to bury her on a mountainside. They take the zipped up sleeping bag she is rolled up in (in the back of the truck) and take her to the designated spot they wish to plant her. At the same time, some offbeat humor is attached pretty superbly and thanks to the writing involved (that sort of winks to the Coen?s style) we as the audience get to know these two brothers fairly quickly. They?re either cold-blooded killers or loving sons, and we get pretty clear answers of that query as the story progresses.
The point of the movie surrounds their task of locating a new mother. Without a presence like hers, their lives are not the same as they are disorganized and can?t really fully take care of themselves. This influences them to go out and try to find their new mom. But in the book of film rules, everyone knows the procedure doesn?t go as planned, leaving some twists and turns in the way that result in quirky fun and occasionally some good laughs. In their attempts to find themselves a new mother, the two brothers end up kidnapping a female grocery mart clerk whom holds a baby under her belt, and one of them also falls for a bank teller in the process of their robbing. Where it goes from here I will leave to a secret, as while once it gets to this point of the story it can seem slightly predictable and run-of-the-mill, the plot actually rolls out some nifty turns and points from there to the end.
From the beginning stretches, Dirt carries along a very engaging storytelling method that easily draws the viewer into these two guys? lives. The cinematography is a strong point to the film, as well as the acting, which for our two protagonists is very fine. After a while, the two brothers reminded me of the duo involved in Levinson?s Bandits with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. In that caper comedy, Willis played the slick robber while Thornton was the more comically nervous/serious guy. In Dirt, that pattern is somewhat put to use but instead of feeling like cheating (the audience) or unoriginal substance, the material involved and the performances given by both leads leaves the duo to be one great entertaining ride.
The film has a very comical edge that for me generally came off more as fun than literally humorous, but one attribute the picture does hold is being truly enjoyable. It?s not overly profound even though it could?ve been, but it?s more of a strong theatrical diversion. Dirt is probably what would result if the Coen brothers and Barry Levinson joined in both the writers? and directors? chair. The end of the picture was one of my complaints in terms of the story, as it?s pretty simple and doesn?t take much brain use to see it coming as the third act is in gear. The fact that we can see it coming doesn?t take a huge effect away from the movie?s overall experience, but it?s definitely not an original turn of the story.
Dirt also offers some nicely performed cameos by Jennifer Tilly as a hooker, as well as a surprisingly good and witty delivery from Patrick Warburton, who plays a local sheriff named Vincent who?s tracking the two bandits? tails. The two leads, Michael Covert and Tracy Fraim, supply some really winning acting executions that are just about on the lines of flawlessness. The love situation for them is not as triangle-like as that of Bandits, but the pull-off of such is rewarding regardless, and again, fun.
The pace is also just right, pulling the audience right into the story right away and keeps interest with its quirkiness and the interesting and unique characters that fall into play. It doesn?t do a huge character breakdown outside of our two main personas, but an adequate amount for us to know who these people are in character. Dirt?s very enjoyable, but it?s also very well told via the script and well directed (Covert and Fraim co-directed).
It has the feel of a small movie that may need word of mouth to grow once released, but if audiences take the journey they should end up being pleased. And for anybody who?s a fan of the two other filmmakers mentioned (Coen?s and Levinson), Dirt should be a greatly entertaining trip that passes an hour and a half very solidly.
The film is opening in two markets on April 25 (New York and Texas) and holds elements of the Coen brothers? filmmaking flare, but also has a touch of the quirkiness one usually finds in a Barry Levinson production.
Dirt is the story of two Texas brothers (Michael Covert and Tracy Fraim) whose mother has just passed away. The film starts up as the two are riding through the desert, looking to bury her on a mountainside. They take the zipped up sleeping bag she is rolled up in (in the back of the truck) and take her to the designated spot they wish to plant her. At the same time, some offbeat humor is attached pretty superbly and thanks to the writing involved (that sort of winks to the Coen?s style) we as the audience get to know these two brothers fairly quickly. They?re either cold-blooded killers or loving sons, and we get pretty clear answers of that query as the story progresses.
The point of the movie surrounds their task of locating a new mother. Without a presence like hers, their lives are not the same as they are disorganized and can?t really fully take care of themselves. This influences them to go out and try to find their new mom. But in the book of film rules, everyone knows the procedure doesn?t go as planned, leaving some twists and turns in the way that result in quirky fun and occasionally some good laughs. In their attempts to find themselves a new mother, the two brothers end up kidnapping a female grocery mart clerk whom holds a baby under her belt, and one of them also falls for a bank teller in the process of their robbing. Where it goes from here I will leave to a secret, as while once it gets to this point of the story it can seem slightly predictable and run-of-the-mill, the plot actually rolls out some nifty turns and points from there to the end.
From the beginning stretches, Dirt carries along a very engaging storytelling method that easily draws the viewer into these two guys? lives. The cinematography is a strong point to the film, as well as the acting, which for our two protagonists is very fine. After a while, the two brothers reminded me of the duo involved in Levinson?s Bandits with Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. In that caper comedy, Willis played the slick robber while Thornton was the more comically nervous/serious guy. In Dirt, that pattern is somewhat put to use but instead of feeling like cheating (the audience) or unoriginal substance, the material involved and the performances given by both leads leaves the duo to be one great entertaining ride.
The film has a very comical edge that for me generally came off more as fun than literally humorous, but one attribute the picture does hold is being truly enjoyable. It?s not overly profound even though it could?ve been, but it?s more of a strong theatrical diversion. Dirt is probably what would result if the Coen brothers and Barry Levinson joined in both the writers? and directors? chair. The end of the picture was one of my complaints in terms of the story, as it?s pretty simple and doesn?t take much brain use to see it coming as the third act is in gear. The fact that we can see it coming doesn?t take a huge effect away from the movie?s overall experience, but it?s definitely not an original turn of the story.
Dirt also offers some nicely performed cameos by Jennifer Tilly as a hooker, as well as a surprisingly good and witty delivery from Patrick Warburton, who plays a local sheriff named Vincent who?s tracking the two bandits? tails. The two leads, Michael Covert and Tracy Fraim, supply some really winning acting executions that are just about on the lines of flawlessness. The love situation for them is not as triangle-like as that of Bandits, but the pull-off of such is rewarding regardless, and again, fun.
The pace is also just right, pulling the audience right into the story right away and keeps interest with its quirkiness and the interesting and unique characters that fall into play. It doesn?t do a huge character breakdown outside of our two main personas, but an adequate amount for us to know who these people are in character. Dirt?s very enjoyable, but it?s also very well told via the script and well directed (Covert and Fraim co-directed).
It has the feel of a small movie that may need word of mouth to grow once released, but if audiences take the journey they should end up being pleased. And for anybody who?s a fan of the two other filmmakers mentioned (Coen?s and Levinson), Dirt should be a greatly entertaining trip that passes an hour and a half very solidly.
Lee's Grade: B
Lee's Overall Grading: 3025 graded movies
| A | 0.4% | |
| B | 30.0% | |
| C | 61.7% | |
| D | 8.0% | |
| F | 0.0% |
