TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2015 // A FILM REVIW OF "DIRTY WEEKEND"
The 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, runs April 15th-26th and features hundreds of features, documentaries, short films, and special events all throughout downtown New York City. The ArtsWire Weekly's three featured reviewers Mateo, Derek, & Chrisena are hitting the festival and bringing the reviews right to you! What you should see and what you should skip...
I am obsessed with Neil LaBute. I have been since high school. For some reason, I have always enjoyed the harsh characters he creates and the ruthless worlds that he builds. Sometimes, I am bothered by it, but I always end up re-reading his plays, or going to see that performance once more, to see if I can rationalize what is happening.
This film was no different. We meet Les played by Matthew Broderick, and Natalie played by Alice Eve, two uptight business folks on their way to Dallas for a business convention. They get stranded during a layover in Albuquerque and somehow end up confiding their dirtiest secrets to one another. After some early morning martinis and a cab driver who fails wildly at quoting Shakespeare every other breath, the rag-tag couple set off to help Les remember just how far his infidelities went and what that might mean for his future.
The dialogue seems stilted at first, in a very theatrical sort of style that took a moment to get used to. Once I was familiar with the dialogue rhythms, it was all much easier to follow. It actual became fun to follow. The jerky speech pattern of Les and the fast smooth fluidity of Natalie’s theories on the human condition became an audible portrait of a twisted comedy.
Some beautiful images are found with in the film too. Not the trendy bars or the swanky hotels, but the images of a man choosing his life and a woman choosing hers. Near the end of the film is a stunning moment where Natalie finally removes the collar around her neck and Les decides to simultaneously place his arm back into its entrapping sling. What it suggests is that maybe, just maybe a dirty weekend can put one’s life deeply into focus. Maybe this focus sharpens your devotion or maybe it sets you free from a person who doesn't deserve to hold your heart prisoner. It does seem a bit too optimistic for LaBute, but I sure liked it.
My favorite thing however was the visual at the end of the film where Matthew Broderick has a moment after the affair that sliced through the ridiculousness of the "cheating is normal" concept that Natalie throws at him. His wife calls and his voice falters. Tears spring into his eyes as he tries to reclaim normal. This tiny detail of regret is not something I am accustomed to seeing in a Neil LaBute work and it was a nice surprise. Even the most dubious, lost and bastardized son of guns out there can feel remorse, and that was a sparkling moment of truth.
VERDICT: MUST SEE
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Neil LaBute STARRING Matthew Broderick, Alice Eve, Gia Crovatin, Phil Burke.
Playing as part of The 2015 Tribeca International Film Festival. For tickets & schedules: http://www.tribecafilm.com
CHRISENA RICCI once went to a costume party dressed in an all black dress and black wig. No one there could guess who she was. So she shouted out, "I'm Christina Ricci, without the T or I and add an E!" Everyone stood there confused, she was annoyed, so she stormed off. She never returned to that apartment ever again. Which is fine, because she later realized she was at the wrong party. She now lives in New York City.