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List Price: $27.98 | | Label: New Line Home Video
Salesrank: 20592
Released: June 14, 2005 |
| Our Price: $3.02 |
| Used Price: $1.34 |
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MPAA Rating: NC-17
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Are you ready for a movie that puts filth right where it belongs? Then get ready to laugh with A Dirty Shame--the latest raunchy riot from director John Waters (Hairspray). When a concussion awakens the carnal urges of Sylvia (Tracey Ullman), the people of Pinewood become pitted against each other in a battle of decency versus depravity.
Description of A Dirty Shame (R Rated Version):
When prissy, prickly Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman) suffers a head injury during a traffic altercation, she's, er, revived by self-appointed sexual missionary Ray-Ray Perkins (Johnny Knoxville) and is transformed into an insatiable, take-no-prisoners sex maniac. Yes, it's a John Waters film. Yes, it's filthy. No, it's not as hilarious and sustained as you'd like it to be. It works for a while, though: Ullman, never a stingy comedienne, does everything Waters dares her to do without hesitation; words cannot describe the perversely sporting delight with which she mounts a water bottle during a round of "The Hokey Pokey" at an old folks' home. And there's some fun to be had when Sylvia's emancipation leads her Baltimore 'burb to new heights of ecstasy, freeing her large-breasted daughter Caprice (Selma Blair) while horrifying husband Vaughn (Chris Isaak) and her hardline mother Big Ethel (Suzanne Shepherd, hysterical) in the process. It's also packed with the standard cameos, the most satisfying of which is good old Patty Hearst at a Sex Addicts Anonymous encounter. But, for all the nasty, necessary glee, the movie feels inescapably been-there-done-that, and you can't help but wish this was 1972 and Divine was on hand to prowl for dog droppings. The most shocking thing about A Dirty Shame is how desperate and tiresome its anarchy becomes.--Steve Wiecking
A Dirty Shame (R Rated Version) Reviews:
Mediocre at best 
2009-12-28 - This is a review of the movie, which I saw on cable, and not the DVD. I believe that I saw the 'R' rated version rather then the NC-17 version, although it wasn't specified.
A Dirty Shame opens with Tracy Ullman, a frigid housewife, getting hit on the head and turning into a sexaholic. She is welcomed into a sexaholic cult led by Johnny Knoxville and then slowly more and more members of the town get concussions and become sexaholics of various more or less bizarre flavors. As the new apostle of the cult it is apparently Tracy's destiny to invent a new sex act.
The first wall that A Dirty Shame runs into is that it relies heavily on the sexually bizarre to fuel its shock humor. However asking people in the post "2 girls one cup" age to be shocked by a guy sitting around in a baby costume is optimistic in the extreme. If the movie had run with the theme and actually injected humor based on these acts, perhaps that might have worked, instead we just see a parade of minor creepiness and we're supposed to be amused by it?
Secondly, for a sex comedy there's almost no sex and absolutely no eroticism. Tracy goes the extra mile with her facial contortions and pelvic thrusts which is slightly amusing at times but only in the 'Tracy is making funny faces' way, not in the 'Tracy is actually having a good time' way.
Thirdly, there's very little comedy. Mostly what there is that works is slapstick, which is ok but it's not enough to hang the movie on. An example of the comedy might be Selma Blair appearing with what appears to be basketball sized balloons for breasts. In the context of the film they're real giant breasts, but she moves as though they're balloons. Funny? Later they deflate and re-inflate in front of us. Honestly I can't see what direction they were hoping for this to be funny in? A sight gag? Self-deprecating "isn't this a cheesy movie" humor?
With almost no story, satire(?) that misses the world as it is now, and social commentary(?) that is incoherent the movie has nothing to fall back on to rescue it from itself.
All that said I think that the actors turned in reasonable performances given the obvious limitations they were laboring under, production quality seemed to be decent and the sound track was quite good. In fact watching the list of songs on the credits was as amusing as anything in the film itself.
Go in with low expectations and you might be pleasantly surprised, but if you aren't already a John Waters fan it's probably not worth an hour and a half of your life.
Not as funny as it could be, but I learned a few things 
2009-11-05 - Some parts were funny /
More parts were stupid, but still /
educational
All kinds of fun. 
2009-08-03 - I'm a big fan of Tracy Ulman and she is great in this film, but there's good chemistry among the whole cast. Of all John Water's films I like this best. Anyone who's ever had a parent who is a "Neuter" will recognize the whole mindset here. The Bears are very well done. I'm a member of a Bear club myself and we heartily concur that it fits us well. Like all parody and satire everything is exaggerated...and yet deadly accurate. It's in my collection of movies I have to see every year.
Halarious video
2009-05-04 - My favorite John Waters flick. I hope he continues to gross out the masses for years to come.
I ordered the wrong one... 
2009-05-04 - I'm a John Waters fan. I was unaware that the R rated version is called the "neuter" version because it has been censored. (Cut scenes and some foul words replaced with more "acceptable" ones.) Now I have to purchase the NC-17 Version to get the true John Waters experience. LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PICTURE, THE R RATED VERSION SAYS "NEUTER VERSION" ON IT!
To add insult to injury, IT WAS MORE EXPENSIVE!
