Review: A Dirty Shame

Sexually repressed Tracey Ullman takes a bump to the head one day, and after what can be only described as ‘sexual healing’ by a sleazy-looking guy named Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville), she becomes a seriously aggressive sex addict. Soon, the entire town seems to have gotten outrageously horny. Her mother, named Big Ethel (the astonishing Suzanne Shepherd, who is like Bea Arthur mixed with Bill O’Reilly) is sickened by all of the smut and tries to put a stop to it, along with Ullman’s meek (but secretly horny) husband Chris Isaak (very funny). Selma Blair is a hoot as Ullman’s daughter, a woman with massive mammaries whom her parents have been keeping locked up from the randy locals who used to enjoy her ‘act’ under the name Ursula Udders (if you thought Russ Meyer’s girls had some gigantic norks…) The infamous Patricia Hearst (Stockholm Syndrome, anyone?) is once again given a role by Waters, seen here as a sex addict. Meanwhile, Ray-Ray explains to Ullman that it is now her job to find an entirely new sex act (‘coz let’s face it, just about everything’s been done, right? How the hell would I know…), which proves a tough task when you’ve already got hairy gay guys who call themselves bears (hilarious, if you ask me), guys who take a crap in a woman’s handbag (not so funny), and so on.

 

2004 John Waters (“Pink Flamingos”, “Cry Baby”, and the slightly underrated “Cecil B. Demented”) special is more in keeping with his earlier, more controversial efforts, but with a more assured, perhaps streamlined vision. Some have called it a bit of a sell-out, or complained that it’s not as raunchy as say “Pink Flamingos”, but I believe most of that latter criticism can be explained by the way audiences have become so accustomed to lewd, perverse and grotesque antics that Waters’ vision no longer seems daring in their eyes. They think those films were more risqué than they perhaps were, because they were extremely controversial for their time (Well, OK, so Waters will never best the dog shit bit in “Pink Flamingos”…But do we really want to see what could top it? I’m a little wary of that, myself)

 

Personally, I found it raunchy enough, and whilst the laughs were extremely cheap, the laughs were indeed there. A lot. Funny is funny, and this flick is often very funny, even making the usually annoying Knoxville and Ullman (both acquired tastes) hilarious to me, with Ullman going all-out in particular (the hokey pokey ain’t ever gonna look the same after you see what Ullman does here, folks!). It’s like Waters has let the horny 13 year-old in him run wild with hilariously dumb sex jokes (The late Roger Ebert really didn’t get this film at all).

 

My only complaint is that when the new sex act is finally found, it comes as somewhat disappointingly mild (and not very funny) to me, compared to the rest. Scripted by Waters, it’s not for everyone- you’ll either revel in the fact that Waters is working at the basest level, or you’ll want to string him up- but I found it very enjoyable in a juvenile way. As for me, I’m off to go sexin’!…Or not…probably not. Sigh.

 

Rating: B-