An intelligent and extremely well-made romantic drama that tells an intriguing story with economy and insight.
Dirty Pretty Things (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:37
Fresh:34
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.8/10
Consensus: An illuminating and nuanced film about the exploitation of illegal immigrants.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] sexual content, disturbing images and language
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $7,953,388
Synopsis: Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a remarkably understated performance in director Stephen Frears's offbeat and gripping drama DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. Ejiofor stars as Okwe, a Nigerian who is trying to make a... Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a remarkably understated performance in director Stephen Frears's offbeat and gripping drama DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. Ejiofor stars as Okwe, a Nigerian who is trying to make a new life for himself in London, where he works days as a taxi driver and nights as a hotel desk receptionist. When he discovers a human heart in a hotel-room bathroom, he cannot go to the police because he is an illegal alien with a mysterious past that he refuses to talk about. Suddenly he is thrust into the middle of a dangerous situation that threatens to have tragic results for him and those around him. French ingenue Audrey Tautou costars as a Turkish woman who has sought asylum in England, where she is allowed to live but not work. But she must make money, so she works secretly while the government tries to catch her. Benedict Wong turns in a fine supporting performance as Guo Yi, a morgue employee who shares wise and humorous sayings with Okwe, and Sergi Lopez is absolutely chilling as the amorally opportunistic hotel manager. Frears directs the unusual proceedings with a deft hand, slowly revealing secrets that are as gruesome as they are poignant. [More]
Starring: Chjwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez, Sophie Okonedo
Starring: Chjwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi Lopez, Sophie Okonedo, Zlatko Buric, Benedict Wong
Director: Stephen Frears
Director: Stephen Frears
Screenwriter: Steven Knight
Producer: Tracey Seaward, Robert Jones
Composer: Nathan Larson
Screenwriter: Stephen Morris
Studio: Miramax Films
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Release:
Mar 23, 2004
Reviews for Dirty Pretty Things
An impressive mix of entertainment and social comment, spinning a great mystery even as it confronts an ugly world.
Few movies create such perfect pitch among character, plot and setting.
Although the film delves into an interesting topic -- black marketeers trading in human flesh -- the approach is far too clinical.
Throughout his career, Frears has taken chances, and only on rare occasions has he missed the mark. Dirty Pretty Things is right on target.
Half love story, half horror story, it's like an urban legend with a conscience.
If you go with the film -- and I did -- it will be because the quiet empathy of the central performances carries you over the plot holes.
The acting is superb in Dirty Pretty Things, especially Ejiofor as the embattled Okwe and Tautou as the exploited Senay.
It ponders human worth, physical and emotional, with a mix of outrage and tenderness that's hard to fault.
Dirty Pretty Things is in fact dirty and pretty, reminding us how much beauty there can be in the things we would rather not see.
It offers as its hero an extraordinary fellow: He's an authentic moral being who, though the universe has gone all twisty-crazy into greed, mendacity and manipulation, nevertheless clings to his own code.
Frears and his writer, Steve Knight, use the power of the thriller and avoid the weaknesses in giving us, really, two movies for the price of one.
A suspense movie that works bracingly well as a genre thriller while also offering gems of social portraiture and a lacerating expose of current conditions among illegal London aliens.
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