Dirty Girl had the buzz needed to become the next indie darling. The screenplay by first time filmmaker Abe Sylvia made the Black List, a 'best of' list for unproduced screenplays, in 2007. When Dirty Girl premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010, the Weinstein Company reportedly rushed to acquire it for $3 million. Not a surprise considering the story is a coming-of-age tale and an adventurous road trip, two staples of indie cinema, and features a sassy, strong-willed female protagonist. However, Dirty Girl didn't get much of a push in the end. It was only released in a handful of theaters in October for about five weeks and now hits shelves on DVD only.
Set in 1987, the movie follows Juno Temple as the titular 'dirty girl,' Danielle, a high schooler brazen in her defiance and sexuality. Both attributes are frowned upon in the relatively conservative town of Norman, Oklahoma. After mouthing off to a teacher, Danielle is sent to the remedial class where she meets with Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), a shy, overweight and bullied boy struggling with his homosexuality. The two are paired together for a parental assignment requiring them to care for a sack of flour as if it were a real baby.
Incidentally, are kids really given these projects where they have to care for eggs or dolls? Is this purely a sitcom invention or is it a legit scholastic requirement?
Anyways, despite Danielle's misanthropy, the two teens bond over the fact that they both come from dysfunctional homes. Danielle doesn't fall far from the tree. Her mother, Sue-Ann (Milla Jovovich), is a knockout, heavily caked in make-up with a Farrah Fawcett-style feathered hairdo. She's the type who would rather be a big sister than a mom. Against her daughter's vehement objections, Sue-Ann is set to marry a straight-laced Mormon (William H. Macy) looking to save their souls from damnation. Clarke lives in fear of his homophobic and abusive father (Dwight Yoakam), who forces him to attend awkward therapy sessions and threatens to ship Clarke off to a military academy. Clarke's mom, Peggy, (Mary Steenburgen) is too meek and fearful to do anything about it.
Clarke ends up stealing dad's Cadillac for a road trip to California when Danielle discovers a picture of her father in an old yearbook.
Dirty Girl isn't an autobiographical film though Sylvia did grow up in Oklahoma as an awkward and closeted teen. He didn't have the problems Clarke did as his parents were hippies from California. Still, it doesn't seem like Sylvia particularly enjoyed his time in the Sooner State as Dirty Girl alternately acts as a parody and middle finger to Middle America and conservative values. Dirty Girl may be set in the 80's, but it looks like the 70's, a sly dig at how behind the times everyone is. The school faculty and William H. Macy's Mormon are portrayed as uptight and buffoonish.
The film's soundtrack is decidedly 80's as it features familiar tunes like Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" and Pat Benatar's "Shadows of the Night." There's even a striptease with Clarke strutting about the stage in an oversized sweatshirt ala Jennifer Beals in Flashdance. Melissa Manchester acts as the picture's muse with nine of her songs sprinkled throughout the narrative, including an original tune, "Rainbird," which she co-wrote with Mary Steenburgen).
Juno Temple, daughter of director Julien Temple, plays the role of Danielle with gusto. Listening to her Southern twang, you'd never guess she's a Brit. Temple portrays Danielle as a firebrand unrepentant about her promiscuity. She's not the most likable character due to the way she profanely berates Clarke and Sue-Ann. Newcomer Jeremy Dozier turns in a good performance in which he never crosses the line into a gay stereotype. Mary Steenburgen is also wonderful as Clarke's quiet and caring mother. The best performance in Dirty Girl surprisingly belongs to country singer Tim McGraw as Danielle's father, who underplays it during a heartbreaking sequence with Temple.
Not all of Dirty Girl works as well as the powerful first meeting between Danielle and her dad. Sylvia struggles with giving his film a unique voice as the story plays out in a similar manner to so many other indie flicks. The tone wavers between ribald humor and the sentimentality of an afterschool special. The cleverest gag you'll find comes from the changing expressions drawn on the face of Danielle and Clarke's little bundle of joy as it reacts to the situation her "parents" find themselves.
Despite some strong points, Dirty Girl is too scattershot and derivative to recommend. Juno Temple and Jeremy Dozier are entertaining enough, but the story unfolds in a broad and sappy manner best described as Juno meets Little Miss Sunshine by way of Glee.
Rating: ** (*****)
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