quietearth [Celluloid 01.28.09] movie review comedy drama



Year: 2009
Release date: January 28th (Belgium, theatrical)
Directors: Pieter Van Hees
Writers: Pieter Van Hees
IMDB: link
Trailer: link
Review by: quietearth
Rating: 5 out of 10

Moving from Pieter Van Hees' great horror film Linkeroever to his next, the equally genre peripheral piece, Dirty Mind, I was really excited. A loser who gets in an accident and wakes up transformed into a stunt man? The possibilities are endless! I envisioned comedy galore, from simple accident shtick humor, ape'ing masculinity, and fart jokes to the holy grail itself, the ménage à trois. Yes, plenty of violence, sick humor, and sex, I was already salivating long before I ever got to see footage. Too bad it didn't work out like that. While there was occasional humor, the film ended up being a drama, and ultimately, a struggle between "Tony T's" conflicting old Jekyll and new Hyde personalities. To put it succinctly, I didn't get what I wanted and I was sorely disappointed.


Shy Diego works with his brother, who is originally the stuntman, setting up various things on film and tv sets. His awkward and inept advances towards women are shown early on.. man I really felt for this guy. With the whole beginning I couldn't wait for him to start his new career, which he did after replacing his brother in a stunt, falling out a window and landing on his head. Yes! Bring it on! The first thing he's in the hospital talking to his brother, fully cogent, and he's already heavily flirting with the gorgeous Doctor who you can guess, plays a large role in the whole film. It seems he has some frontal lobe problem which messes with his inhibitions but hell if he cares. I'm Tony T!

While everyone is shocked around him his confidence and outlandish behavior increase with every cut scene and Tony grows happier as you can imagine. Going from shy loser to head of the whole stunt team? Bring it on! I know I'm making it sound fantastic, and now you know how I felt, because even with all of this the whole tale just spins out of control and rarely do we get that brash behavior I was so looking forward too.

In the end, I love Pieter Van Hees work and I think he's a good director, but the script on this one doesn't live up to the synopsis and I think audiences will thus be disappointed. It's like a bait and switch, but not in a good way. Dirty Mind opens in Belgium tomorrow, January 28th and, unfortunately, I'd have to say I wouldn't recommend this unless you know what you're getting into. It isn't the rowdy alpha-male comedy you'll be expecting.

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Forgotten Films (12 years ago) Reply

Seems like you let yourself be fooled.
Why assume the film has to be a certain way because of the way the trailer is cut or the synopsis? This review is one I am taking with a grain of salt due to a mud puddle perception.
If I drew conclusions from a film based merely off of it's synopsis and trailer and
the film totally took a different direction, I would then rule that the film team did an even better job by throwing a curve ball.
Whic would bring me to love the film more.

Anonymous (12 years ago) Reply

Every magazine and site that published an article on Dirty Mind, announced it as a more dramatic movie, focused on Tony T's two opposing personalities. It's not because the movie features Wim Helsen, that it's supposed to be a comedy. Even more so, Wim Helsen is known for his comedy shows "with a twist" - shows with a more dramatic undertone.
I watched Dirty Mind a few days ago, and I thought it was a terrific movie (except for the ending, which was terribly out of place). I think you just read the wrong synopsis.
Too bad you kept focusing on your expectations - you missed a great movie because of it.

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