Dirty Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Violence Is A Language People Understand
In a Los Angeles dominated by violent gangs and a corrupt LAPD Precinct, the dirty Officer Armando Sancho is haunted by his guilty since an innocent old man was accidentally killed in an operation with his also dirty partner Salim Adel. The Internal Affairs is pressing Sancho, who feels split between the loyalty to his mates and his conscience, and he has to make a statement at 6:00 PM. When his superiors Captain Spain and his Lieutenant assign the two cops for an operation dealing drugs apprehended by the police and stored as evidence with a powerful drug dealer, Sancho feels that something is wrong and they have been framed.
| Frank Alvarez | Gangster #1 |
| Clifton Collins Jr. | Officer Armando Sancho |
| Brittany Daniel | Tatiana |
| Keith David | Captain Spain |
| Robert Flores | Gangster #4 |
| Aimee Garcia | Rita |
| César García Gómez | Gangster #3 |
| Nicholas Gonzalez | Officer Rodriguez |
| Cuba Gooding Jr. | Salim Adel |
| Kevin Grevioux | Daddy |
| Wood Harris | Brax |
| Cole Hauser | Lieutenant |
| Wyclef Jean | Baine |
| Pat Healy | Ronnie |
| Tory Kittles | Wallace |
| Chris Fisher |
5.50 out of 10 (1480 votes)
Visitor Reviews
no hope
posted on 01 Jun 2009there was a review quote " If you liked " Traing Day " then you will like this. No, its way past Training Day in violence. Way past anything I've seen in the gritty reality stakes. A bad part of Los Angeles, where the population, it seems to me, is split between predators and prey.... and even the prey are opportunists who will turn to crime when it suits them. Thats the message of this movie. A corner of Tinseltown where civilisation does not exist, where anarchy rules, where the police are the most powerful criminal gang and will do anything to stay there. Everything's corrupt, except possibly the impotent Internal affairs office. Police officer played by Cuba Gooding Jr says to his partner played by Clifton Collins Jr. " Don't you get it ? there ARE no gangs, we've got rid of them all and WE are the only gang left " A good movie, but one that left a strong feeling of foreboding in me, and a realisation that all of us depend on a very thin veneer of civilisation, which, when overstressed can collapse in ruins.
another disappointing cuba flick
posted on 18 May 2009Fishers buddy cop film about two gangbangers turned cops is a bit ridulous, not even as entertaining as i thought it would be, and a definete "could miss". This film has some alright jokes, decent characters, but it really doesn't accomplish much, the writing is just not a good flowing story and direction is obviously misguided. This film could have been good but i think its a story of a genre that people have done to death and their really isn't too much left to be done unless its done amazingly (hopefully Miami Vice will provide this). Anyhow, another disappointing film from Cuba, lets see if Endgame is the same way. 6/10
To sum it up in one word: Pointless
posted on 02 May 2009It's about corruption in the police force, but there is no real point to it. The acting in the movie is pretty decent. It may or may not have been a low budget film. If it was low budget is was not extremely obvious (a good thing). But throughout the movie you are just watching... hoping to find some shred of morality or redeeming quality in any one of the characters, or at least some point or message to this movie. Don't keep your hopes up on that one.Perhaps there was a message to the movie. Everyone is corrupt. Everything is hopeless.If you have nothing better to do, and you don't have to pay to see this movie, maybe consider it.
Rare thoughtful action movie
posted on 11 Feb 2009I saw this movie at the AFI Festival in Hollywood, and it struck me as an incredibly sophisticated work of film-making. Chris Fisher took what could be a tired genre -- the corrupt cop story -- and by focusing on the psychology of the characters, breathed new life into it. Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s portrayal of a cop who has lost his moorings is mesmerizing, funny, heartbreaking, very engaging. But it is Clifton Collins, Jr. who represents the moral center of this movie. An incredible performance, the best I've seen in years. A gang-banger stricken with an attack of conscience. Fisher sets up a brutal world and then finds a glint of light in it. I mean, it's easy to behave morally in a sheltered, safe, middle-class environment. But these cops -- the movie is based on the L.A. Rampart scandal -- must confront a violent, deadly, compromised landscape at every turn. What I most liked about Dirty is that it was an action movie that didn't require you to leave your brains at the door.
I have seen worse, barely.....
posted on 28 Jan 2009I have no intentions of wasting my time writing a big review on this, so I will summarise.This film was awful. Most of the roles were acted as well as the actors could do, considering the script but where the hell was the story or plot line? Yes there is massive corruption within the police force across the USA, but I think this film went a little too far with the concept. I am not saying the implied story in this film could not happen, I am merely pointing out that it was poorly portrayed. Avoid it if you can and find other films of this genre from a few yews back like Training Day for example, or even Deep Cover.My most disappointing character in the film was Wyclef Jean. Whoever told him that his accent was an authentic Jamaican was must have been drunk. I have heard Homer Simpson do a better Jamaican impersonation that Wyclef did. Truly awful.
Bad Dirty movie
posted on 05 Dec 2008I was shocked after watching just the first few minutes of this film. It is amazing how this final version even came close to making the cut. Cuba gooding is a good actor. Remember in Boyz in the hood when the bad cop held a gun to his head and that one tear rolled down his cheek? Well what the hell happened to that guy? He is worse than a B movie actor in this film. His street accent isn't even remotely close to good and he never develops a person anyone can identify with. As for the rest of the actors, I'm sure they have to be embarrassed to even be in this film. Its sketchy, poorly written, poorly acted, and rambles on. In fact I would find it easy to believe that the director was doing Meth during production and wasn't getting enough sleep. Its crazy that some people actually liked this film. They must be shills. Have to be!
mildly uneventful, but very good.
posted on 25 Nov 2008having forgotten about this movie until it reached the 'prestreet' drawer of the videostore i work at, i was not waiting with baited breath for this movie at all, but once i ran across it, i took it home and watched it. it was, i found, mildly uneventful, but good nonetheless. for you can never really tell how it is going to end, unlike many other movies of its kind- police dramas- one thing i did not like, was Cuba gooding Jr's inability to convincingly speak 'street' having not known Cuba to speak that way since 'boyz n the hood,' so while this movie was enjoyable in the long run, i would advise Cuba to continue playing writers, and normal people who do not speak like that...
Ignorance is bliss
posted on 30 Sep 2008This review is directed at the other critics as well as to this movie.Its clear this movie shows reality, people giving this movie a bad review because of their own goody two shoes experiences should not even bother writing anything here.Its called Dirty for a reason, its meant to be violent and the swearing is real, have you ever hung around a group of people from 15-22 for more than 10 minutes? Most people don't need to swear perfectly to the punchline thats not real and in reality most people overuse it, I'm sick of people attempting to discredit this movie for such idiotic reasons.The cast of this movie is great, they set the ambiance for this movie and they generate a plot for it.Yes this movie has a plot, if you want an underlined detailed plot i would recommend going to watch the wizard of oz and watch Dorothy walk the yellow brick road , maybe even then you will fail to see where she is going.If people want to think this kind of thing does not really happen and this movie is created for people who love trash think again.This movie is good in all aspects. i completely recommend it to people who want more than a movie and not just to pass time, its a movie to think about it afterwards.
Not even just another cop movie
posted on 30 Sep 2008This film is shitty, I must say. The plot is like taken from GTA San Andreas. Characters are comic, or even comical. And the only word which rules this film is "motherf*cker". It was said - I don't know - maybe 2 times per minute, or so! I know that it has to be street-like talking, but - seriously - I don't believe everybody talks like that on the streets. And besides, even if they do... why the hell you have to make a movie about it!!! And this word appears in every possible regional form - Mexican, Afro American, Jamaican, Canadian! It looks like an educational material made to illustrate the complexity of accent phenomenon! I say - where are the Russians and Jakuza - they have been in GTA, I think :)...! The whole production is... or rather tries to be very similar to "Training Day", but when you do a copy, you should try to make it good. And here, no one cares if it is so - writers, director, and actors. Cliffton Collins and Cuba Gooding Jr. are horrible and it looks like they've switched with roles! The first one looks ridicules, and the other is completely untruthful. Only director of photography almost managed to catch the spirit of "Training Day" and that's why I gave this film full of puffed up ganstas (the funniest one is the guy from Black Eyed Peas - Jesus, what a performer :)) 2 stars.
Wasted talent
posted on 02 Sep 2008Collins is one of my favorite actors, and Gooding has shown that he is a major talent. While they both portrayed their characters well, I thought the whole thing was a waste. I saw it on cable TV where it was described as a "gritty" police drama. Gritty to me means that it shows how life really is, warts and all, and it isn't pretty. This wasn't gritty; it was sordid. It was *way* over the top in portraying police corruption. Are there corrupt cops? Sure, go ahead and portray them, it would be interesting. But these characters, particularly Gooding's, were so far beyond corrupt that it became ludicrous instead of unveiling corruption. There wasn't a single interaction Gooding's character had, that wasn't a betrayal, a lie, a theft, an insult, an act of violence, or a molestation. The word "mother******" was probably used four hundred times. Watching it, instead of being an interesting drama, just became depressing. Collins' character showed signs of a conscience, and of gradually being corrupted, and was the more believable of the two. I really hate to see great talent like this wasted.
Beyond Training Day
posted on 30 Jul 2008Dirty is another cop movie about crooked cops, and there are many similarities between Training Day and Dirty, but I enjoyed Dirty more than Training Day. The Directing by Chris Fisher is much more Stylish then Antoine Fuqua's vision and also I thought the acting by Clifton Colins Jr. and Cuba were very good, i do believe Collins was a bit better because his character was not the same as Ethan Hawkes character in Training Day but Cuba's character in this film was almost Idenitical to Denzel's character. Also i enjoyed the somewhat complicated story in this film rather then Training Day's straight forward story. If you were to forget about seeing Traing Day and just watch this film as i did, i believe that you would enjoy this film more than Training Day. I recommend this film to anyone that likes cop movies and to people who don't have sensitive ears due to the hundreds of F words in the film and those who don't mind violence in their movies.
Feeble
posted on 14 Jul 2008The started out OK, if cliché-ridden and cheesy in its choice of plot line. Cuba Gooding, for all his merits, does not stand up as a convincing street personality. His gutless and blowhard portrayal must have been in part intentional due to the 'tryhard' nature of his character needlessly revealed by his colleague, but was he really supposed to show up as that pathetic? His character came across as fake in the Nth degree, and never once did I take him seriously. Clifton Collins, Jr is marginally better, often because he opens his mouth less, and the captain (praised in another review)? As soon as he said something about it being a 'war' out there, I knew the script would never allow even a passably meaningful performance to emerge.I come from London and have spent plenty of time in the army as well, listening to glorious bouts of expletive ridden verbal diarrhoea, so listening to the uninspired tourette's-like motherf****r tirades where the aforementioned crops up every other word seems confusing and pointless, rather than real. If anybody really talks in that way in LA, I feel truly sorry for them - all that wasted effort.The story was predictable and telegraphed, with not even an ounce of the plotting sophistication that made 'Training Day' a surprisingly good film on the first watch. In my view, Training Day didn't take itself too seriously, thus making the more cartoonish elements of the plot bearable, but this one just serves to annoy after a while with its preachy nature and attempts to be a serious and hard hitting flick.About the time of Russian roulette, I became too embarrassed to watch any more of this garbage, and turned it off , as I found (not to my surprise) that I really didn't give a monkeys what would happen to the gangsters/policeman, or anyone else. The person I feared most for was myself, as a morning viewing meant that I could have been quietly cursing for the rest of the day about the loss of precious hours.Just Don't.
Do not watch this film.
posted on 09 Apr 2008I watched this film around a friends house and you should not waste your time or money on this film.the character development is all over the place, the back story is not fully explained and the plot is utterly stupid - none of the characters are likable and the story doesn't seem to flow or progress naturally. the camera work too is also very inconsistent, you could even go as far to say 'poor'. many of the accents in the film were laughable - i'm not even sure why some parts were subtitled.the main problem though, apart from the camera jumping around and zooming to the extent that it looks more like a 'trendy' diy programme is that there is no story, no plot and no real characters - just people walking around reading lines. seriously boys and girls, this blows. i'm glad i actually didn't spend a penny on this - i'd have asked for my money back.
A crucial choice...dead or dirty!
posted on 05 Apr 2008Rough-edged drama set in a violent crime ravaged city, where a former gang-banger, Armando Sancho(Clifton Collins Jr), brings his street smarts to an anti-gang unit. His partner is veteran Salim Adel(Cuba Gooding Jr), who himself is drugging and dealing while working undercover for the LAPD. Sancho and Adel have their own personal demons and begin to have trouble trusting each other. The two officers have to deal with the criminal element the only way they know how...on-the-fly and brutal. A gangster with a badge and a gun; with the attitude of being judge, jury and executioner. These partners are pitted against each other; where does the trust begin or end? If Gooding ever played a character you can't like...this is it. Foul language is strong and prevalent. Violence is strong. Others in the cast: Wyclef Jean, Aimee Garcia, Keith David and Cole Hauser. DIRTY is rated a strong R.
No a very good movie
posted on 18 Mar 2008When you buy the film, look at the cover and reads the story it looks quite good. When you get home and are going to see the film, you stare at the screen waiting for the point, which NEVER comes. You will just sit there waiting for a point, you think all the way that it has to be better soon, but it never gets better. It is a movie about corruption within the police. But the movie has no meaning. To be honest, this is a tragic movie. You will cry over the fact that it's actually possible to make a movie this bad, with a this good story. Absolutely not worth watching, even if it had been the only movie ever made. If there is a person you really hate, then give him this movie for his birthday and Christmas.
A disappointing film in all respects
posted on 23 Nov 2007It is hard to believe that Cuba Gooding would allow himself to sink this low. In fact it is disgraceful that a man with his talent would consent to this vulgar attempt to paint all cops as the bad guys and promote drug dealers and gang members as the heroes. The writers, producers and directors that made the movie possible showed a complete lack of talent and good taste. There are no redeeming qualities.Dialog: The dialog consists of continuous profanities and without the "f" word would be reduced to almost no dialog at all.I watched the entire movie,hoping (nay, praying) that it would develop into something worthy of Cuba Gooding's talent, and unfortunately all that I received was a feeling of contempt for anyone and everyone that allowed this piece of garbage to become a movie.I do not even want to know who the other people are that were involved in making this movie... and I would not recommend it to my worst enemy. I'm sure the punks off the streets will find it most entertaining and maybe even motivational...
What an absolute waste of 94 minutes.
posted on 15 Aug 2007Stupid, profane, vile CRAP. The ONLY people that would enjoy this movie are exactly the kind of people the movie portrays. Depicting the murder of young children & wheelchair bound elderly women, and portraying law enforcement as murderous gangster-thugs? That's entertainment? Perhaps all that could be forgiven, but what really makes this film unbearable to watch is the non-stop assault on the viewer with the most horrific language ever put on film. Never, and I quite literally mean NEVER - have I been subjected to such gratuitous profanity. At times, it seemed like a foul-mouthed SNL skit, where the intent was to actually mock the incessant barrage of filth coming from everyones mouth. I cannot stress enough how the language borders on comical mockery.What a truly horrid, meaningless waste of a film. I am inclined to believe that perhaps Cuba Gooding Jr. was behind on his mortgage payments or has severe gambling debts, because taking a role such as this could only be attributed to a desperate man with heavy debt screaming "Show me the money!"Fortunately, our video rental store has a "playback guarantee" - If you're not happy with your rental, they'll give you another in it's place. This will be only the second movie in my lifetime where I'll be taking them up on their offer.
Shows nothing we haven't already seen presented better.
posted on 11 Aug 2007This is your standard cop drama crap that you can see better done on various television shows about cops. There's no new territory covered here or any new story involved. This is about two partners on the anti-gang unit. Cuba Gooding's character is more comfortable being dirty than his latino partner, who has visions that are representative of his guilt. We come on the scene as Clifton Colinns' character is well on his way to blowing in the entire department to Internal Affairs out of some misguided sense of guilt. This cop is an idiot and makes a number of dense-headed decisions in this movie that lead to a world of sh#4t.THe plot is mainly watching the deconstruction and demise of our main characters as they continually make the wrong move and get themselves deeper into the gangster infested sh#4t.A few too many scenes were borrowed from a far superior movie- Training Day.This is watchable, and forgettable. It's nothing new.
horrible!
posted on 09 May 2007This is an amazingly bad film. My wife and I, having been forced to chose between a Julia Robert's flick called Closure, opted for this shoot 'em up cops and robber movie instead thinking since it's got Cuba Gooding Jr. how bad could it be. Turns out that even with CGJ in it, Dirty still bombs bigger than Hiroshima.The only thing challenging about this movie, besides not fast forwarding right through it, is trying to count how many times the words 'f***', 'motherf***er','hommie', and 's***' are used. It seems that these are about all the words necessary in order for Chris Fisher to construct a scene. For example...'Yo you're a motherf***er for f***ing my s*** up, man. Hommie, I ought cap your f***ing ass you mother motherf***er' - a horrible sentence yet one found in various configurations countless times throughout Dirty.Besides the profanities - which I might mention I have no problem with in general as long as they're used to accentuate a point - the other problem I had with Dirty was the plastic characters.I also loved the scene with the drug dealing Canadian Hells Angels - who are easily identified because they're carrying...hockey sticks (!) and uttering the word 'eh' every second they get.Overall, this movie was a complete tomato and definitely not worth a penny. Spare yourself the agony of watching Dirty and see Ishtar instead. You'll be better off in the long run!
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Cuba's least impressive role thus far...Yes, worse than Snow Dogs.
posted on 26 Aug 2009I was saving my first movie review for something that was so profoundly awful, and Ladies and Gentlemen, "Dirty" is just that. I am indeed surprised by the high rating that it has received. Surely, these must be die hard Cuba Gooding Jr. fans.The movie trailer gave Dirty so much potential. I am sorry to say that that potential was lost after the first 15 minutes of the film. The first and major contributor to my sentiment was Gooding "attempting" to sound like a street cop. Not only was his flagrant use of a well known expletive forced, but the manner in which he attempted to use "cuz" was just awful. I don't consider myself a product of the streets but my surrounding barrio and years of film watching have enabled me to spot an actor trying to sound "hood" and failing horribly. Second point is the subtitles. There were subtitles to English!!! Sure Wyclef was attempting to mimic the accent of people from Jamaica or nearby provinces/countries, but give the audience some credit...or at the very least a sense of authenticity.I could go on and on, but there are too many other horrible clichés and subplots that make this a lackluster movie. It still may be better than Battlefield Earth but it definitely deserves to be placed on the shelf of awesomely-awful movies...right next to Pearl Harbor and The Musketeer.