A Dirty Shame marks the return of the trash cinema king, Mr. John Waters.
What can you say about this gifted film maker? Well, for starters, it should
be noted that he is an aquired taste. I remember the first time I saw his
unforgettable Pink Flamingos. I told myself I'd never watch it again.
Twenty times later, that filthy masterpiece still works it's magic. I have
no doubt that this movie will offend a good many people. I'm not one of those
people.

A Dirty Shame pushes the envelope to be sure, but these days, it takes quite
a bit to disgust your frequent movie-goer. I mean let's face it folks, if
Pink Flamingos were released today, it would probably receive a G rating.
I'm joking of course, but Waters' latest opus seems positively tame by
comparison. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy it. It has some spectacularly
audacious moments.

In this zany exploration into our fascination with sexual politics (pro or
otherwise), Tracy Ullman plays Sylvia Stickles, a un-adventurous housewife
who, after being bonked on the head, becomes - well - pretty damned adventurous.
In fact, she becomes an entirely new person. Her carnal awakening leads her
to Ray Ray (Johnny Knoxville), a sexual messiah looking for the ultimate
orgasm.

Throughout the film, we are introduced to a cast of truly bizarre
characters including Sylvia's daughter Caprice (Selma Blair), a sex addict
with abnormally large breasts (which, if you've seen Ms. Blair on a normal
day, is hilarious in of itself).Waters' screenplay is pretty much everything you'd expect. Filthy, odd and outrageously funny. True, it is a one joke premise, but I found myself
laughing through most of the proceedings. Yes it's juvenile and yes it's
mostly meant to shock, but Waters is one of only a precious few directors
who can get away with this kind of stuff. He brings an energy and tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended) vibe to everything he does.I love how those who are anti-sex in this picture (affectionately referred to as Neuters), are even nuttier than the deviates.

A Dirty Shame has a surprisingly big name cast for an NC-17 rated
raunch-fest. What I liked most about the bigger name actors is that they
just as well had been plucked from one of Waters' earlier films. They
overplay the film to absolute perfection. It helps A Dirty Shame retain that
vintage Waters feel. Of course it doesn't hurt that Waters veterans like
Mink Stole show up to keep things old school.

A Dirty Shame does earn the NC-17 rating. It features full frontal nudity,
unlimited sex talk, naughty situations, and a barrage of outrageous
terminology including "feltching" and one that I've never heard of, "upper
decker." I won't expose the origin of this particular term in print, but
it's a riot as presented in the film.

I wouldn't rank A Dirty Shame as Waters' best. For me, that honor still
belongs to the hilarious, and gloriously obscene Desperate Living. Nor
would I rank it with the likes of Serial Mom, Cry Baby and Hairspray, but I
did enjoy it more than Pecker. It's far more consistent. And if A Dirty
Shame proves anything, it's that not only do Germans love David
Hasslehoff - John Waters appears to have a strong affection for him as well.