British Actress Blog

Dirtysomething (1994)

Score: 8/10

Director: Carl Prechezer

Stars: Rachel Weisz, Paul Reynolds, Bernard Hill.

Synopsis: The story of three people who are down on their luck and turn their lives around.

Review: A young woman named Becca ( Rachel Weisz ) is without a home and living on the streets with her boyfriend named “Dog” ( Paul Reynolds ). Dog is afraid that his girlfriend Becca will rightfully leave him and find a real place to live. While Dog is away, Becca befriends an old man who is so lonely that he lets Becca stay at his house just so that he won’t be alone anymore. Now that Becca has a permanent place to stay Dog becomes angry fearing that Becca will leave him for good.

This is Rachel Weisz’s very early work. She does well in this film but her performance is much like her other performances at the time. Obviously her acting has gotten better with time but it’s still interesting to see her earlier days and the potential that was there.

The film has many concepts but the ability to adapt and thrive in a dynamically changing environment is what is shown to us the most. I love how the two main characters are very active and push forward no matter what. They learn as they make a real life for themselves. Active protagonists are so refreshing to watch.

The cinematography is ok for the time. The real problem is the magnetic strip that holds this deteriorating film together (VHS). The technology of that time does not age well so good stories like this one tends to sadly get lost in time. I could not find a remastered version of this “film/episode”, that or I just didn’t look hard enough. The color and lighting are horrifically dated but these shows looked so much better when they were originally aired back in 1994. That being said the story is actually good. A lot of plot twists are crammed into this one hour film. The wardrobe, set dressing, and backgrounds work well. These kinds of TV shows and movies were very low budget so the producers had no choice but to hire the most talented writers to maintain viewership. Arguably this is when science fiction and fiction in general was better. Instead of flashy effects to “wow” the audience, the story was paramount for the art works survival. Who knows what other great stories we are missing out on because of the passage of time and deteriorating film? This was above average and I enjoyed it passed the horribly dated graphics.

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More Films.

Cinderella (2015)

The King’s Speech (2010)

Suffragette (2015)

The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (2013)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

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