Written and directed by Abe Sylvia and shot in just three weeks, there was a lot of buzz going around about Dirty Girl not all that long ago, but as is so typical with the movie industry hype machine, a lot of it was just flat out unwarranted, at least as far as the finished product is concerned. The story is set in 1987 and it follows the exploits of a young woman named Danielle (Juno Temple) who is the so-called 'dirty girl' of her Norman, Oklahoma high school. Danielle's got a tendency to act out, and after the school has enough of her they send her to the special education class, where she winds up in a parenting class with her portly gay pal Clarke (Jeremy Dozier).

Shortly after, Danielle's mother, Sue-Ann (Milla Jovavich), announces that she's going to be marrying her unusually conservative Mormon boyfriend, Ray (William H. Macy), she decides that she's had enough. She and Clarke decide to hit the road and head west so that Danielle can go to California to try and track down the father she never knew. Since Clarke's parents (Dwight Yoakam and Mary Steenburgen) seems intent on sending his son to military school, he's definitely more than happy to go along for the ride - and of course, along the way they have the sort of deep conversations and life changing experiences that you expect from a movie like this.

Dirty Girl has some really great moments, most of which stem from the on-screen chemistry that Temple and Dozier share. They put themselves into their characters with some obvious commitment to their respective roles and as such, we can buy them in their parts. There's a likeability to them as an unlikely team that goes a long way towards making this film as watchable as it is - but then the script will dive head first into clichés and sappiness and things start to unravel a little quickly. The acting here is strong across the board, with Jovavich cast against type as a Mid-Western mom (far removed from the sexpots and action heroines she's best known for playing but still looking as beautiful as ever) and doing well in the part and Macy as reliable as ever as the rather quirky step-dad to be. Yoakam and Steenburger make an interesting couple as well, obviously uncomfortable with the way that their son has turned out and not all that willing to accept his lifestyle at this point in the game. All of this should have lead to more and more interesting character development than we wind up getting by the time at the end credits hit the screen, and more should have been made of the relationship between the domineering homophobe that Yoakam plays and the meek but obviously caring mother played by Steenburgen.

On a visual level the film is a success. Sylvia sets his film in 1987 but obviously intentionally decks everyone out in garb seemingly more inspired by the seventies, indicating that the state in which all of this takes place (and the state in which the writer/director grew up) is a bit behind the times when compared to some of the more typically progressive and accepting states on the east and west coasts. There are some obvious and understandable digs made towards conservative 'Bible Belt' culture here The movie does make great use of color though, and the cinematography is nice. The pop soundtrack that is used throughout most of the movie also suits the tone of the film very well (Melissa Manchester gets full marks here), and the picture is well paced and well edited. Had it not gone sappy on us a few too many times, it could have been an interesting throwback style look at the difficulties of trying to find yourself and in growing up in an area where you don't quite fit. Instead, it never quite reaches its potential and winds up fairly predictable and occasionally just too sappy for its own good.

Video:

Anchor Bay's 2.40.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation is a good one, offering up crisp detail and nice color reproduction throughout. Some minor compression artifacts pop up in a few of the darker spots but other than that, there's really not much to complain about here. Contrast looks to be set right, there are no issues with heavy edge enhancement and the picture is clean and clear from start to finish.