VIDEO
Plain Dirty

Starring: Dominique Swain, Henry Thomas and Karen Allen
Mosaic Entertainment
Rental

MMR20190
Certificate: 15
Available 22 November 2004


A pretty young woman is mistreated and often kept prisoner by her brute of a husband, watched over and aided by his backwater friend. A local clairvoyant/witch tells her on a rare outing that her true lover is close and, although the road will be hard, everything will turn out for the better in the end. It transpires she is seeing a young and rich businessman who only feels connected to life when he is with her. Her husband's friend hangs around her like a puppy-dog and she eventually manipulates him into killing her husband and dumping his body in the swamp. She is now free, but she hasn't accounted for the friend's infatuation, and the difference in class between her and her lover could be a bridge too far...

Although this is a fairly average film, you do find yourself being drawn into events. It's probably due to Inez (Dominique Swain) who manages sexy, vulnerable and scheming in degrees with little difficulty. Even dirty and beaten-up she is alluring; and this is necessary because otherwise you wouldn't believe the possessiveness of Edgar (Henry Thomas; remember Elliot in E.T.?) or the crush of the husband's friend.

Karen Allen, the supporting star of many 1980s movies (including John Carpenter's Starman and Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark), plays the chain-smoking mystic with no time for her kids.

Check this one out if you have 97 minutes to spare, but don't go out of your way.

Ty Power