iDeal Partners Film Fund, Cherry Sky Films, Hart-Lunsford Pictures,
Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Mary Steenburgen, Nicholas D’Agosto, Elsie Fisher, Tim McGraw, Dwight Yoakam, Maeve Quinlan, Jonathan Slavin, Jeremy Dozier
Danielle (Juno Temple) is the Dirty Girl from the title. But she’s not really so dirty, she’s just misunderstood. Living without a father, her mom has a new beau, Ray (William H Macy), who’s a religious fanatic who’s planning a retreat for the family, and Danielle decides not to go. She gets trouble in school for saying some inappropriate things in class and get sent to special ed with the trouble kids. Her assignment is to get together with Jeremy Dozier who has to pretend to be her husband and given a sack of flour as their baby. Together they have to write a journal about their adventures with their child. Clarke is gay, but doesn’t know it, and refuses to admit it. Instead, Danielle scams him into stealing a car and taking a road trip to find her father, who doesn’t even know she exists.
This film was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t expect much from this type of film, but I found it had really funny moments. Yes, it’s a coming of age film, but it’s a lot deeper than that. Both kids have issues. Both are searching to find themselves, and the friendship they develop, is very touching. Danielle learns a lot of realism, and learns that growing up means letting go of the fantasy of a perfect family, and embracing the things she has. Both families are really screwed up, and these kids could end up really ruining their lives, but through their own inner strength, they can learn to rise about their situations and learning to stand on their own.
The acting is good, and the story is good. This is a small film, but very humorous and it has a lot going for it. I found it well worth the time spent watching it, and as I said at the start, it was a lot better than I expected it to be.
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