Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

jfgibson73 Dirty Girl is about two high schoolers going on a road trip to find the title character's biological father. It was every indie drama you've ever seen. That's about all I really want to say about this movie.I did start to enjoy how the two characters got along after starting out disliking each other. However, the road trip portion of the movie felt too stilted--it was over before enough things happened. Pretty much everyone in it was unexceptional, but the script doesn't give them a whole lot to do. I think the marketing for this movie was misleading--if I had a better idea of what it was like, I would have skipped it. Calling it "Dirty Girl" was the major offense--the movie never gives you a reason why Danielle should be labeled as such.

Arch This could have been a witty period take on coming of age and finding your identity (a sort of Indi 'dirty' Pretty in Pink or Can't buy me love'), but I was distracted by the claim of a 1987 setting. The 1982 hair cuts and 1977 clothing made the production feel like it was run by a group of high school students without access to google! There was so much social, political and fashion change going on at the end of the 80s that failure to contextualise the story properly made this poorly written film feel flat and pointless as well as failing an otherwise great cast. Definitely, not one to recommend. I would go back to original films of the era for now, but also give some of the TV set in that era a go as well for new perspectives on the time.

SnoopyStyle It's 1987 Oklahoma. Danielle Edmondston (Juno Temple) is a dirty girl. She has sex with the boys. She gets dropped into the special class filled with misfits. She befriends outcast Clarke Walters (Jeremy Dozier) who is coming to terms with his homosexuality. Her home life with her mother Sue-Ann (Milla Jovovich) is chaotic as she is about to marry Ray (William H. Macy). Danielle and Clarke go on a road trip to search for her birth father as Clarke's parents (Dwight Yoakam, Mary Steenburgen) chase after him.I want to root for Danielle and Clarke. The movie needs more comedy. It's not that funny. With better comedy, the buddy chemistry would take care of itself. The movie would be much improved. It also relies too much on musical interludes. The story is a bit too messy. I wish the movie and the dialog is better written.

aimless-46 Imagine if Alison Lohman had played the Dede Truitt part in "The Opposite of Sex" (1998) and subtly inserted a bit of Luna Lovegood into the character, and you will have a pretty good idea of the look and feel of "Dirty Girl" (2010). Full of wisdom disguised as black comedy.The dialogue is not on quite the level of "The Opposite of Sex", especially the voice-over narration; but what is? Christina Ricci had so much to work with in that film that Roger Ebert commented specifically about the narration provided by her character: "I hate people who talk during movies, but if she were sitting behind me in the theater, saying all of this stuff, I'd want her to keep right on talking".Juno Temple (playing "Dirty Girl's" title character Danielle Edmondston) does not have as much to work with and her narration is much more conventional. And since her narration does not contradict the events taking place on the screen, any depth brought to her character must come from Temple's and Writer/Director Abe Sylvia's acting for the camera abilities. They are up to the task and Temple non-verbally sells viewers a character who is a lot more that she first appears to be. Sylvia's storytelling style juxtapositions crude and cute, which dooms the film commercially as there is a limited audience for a film structured around such contrasting elements.The main suspension of disbelief element is Danielle having a classic Mustang convertible at her personal disposal. This was a moronic choice by Sylvia as there is not time to insert a credible explanation; the car is not just a needless distraction but is also a poor fit for the character whose development would have been better served by something funky like a beat up Volkswagen.Bottom line this is Temple's movie, although she is ably assisted by Jeremy Dozier and Mary Steenburgen (as Danielle's buddy Clarke and his mother). The other characters are the deliberate stereotypes necessary for economically keeping the focus on Clarke and Danielle.Temple is really starting to take off, she is getting a lot of work and is stepping into the roles that Lohman would be doing if she were ten years younger. And Temple should have additional opportunities as she has more range than Lohman; with a nice off-kilter airhead quality when required. You could see that she was something special back in 2008 when her supporting role in "Wild Child" literally stole the movie. And she has finally overcome the first name confusion with a certain Ellen Page character.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.