Dirty Filthy Love

"Dirty, Filthy Love" certainly serves the OCD and Tourettes suffering community well. It may be exaggerated with the coprolalia (ie, spontaneous swearing), but most people think that is what Tourettes is, anyway. I recommend this film. Other films that also help include: "The Tic Code", "Maze" and "Matchstick Men". In each case, the actors provide some dimension of reality to the afflictions. More humorous renditions include Jack Nicholson ("As Good as it Gets") and the television show "Monk" (Tony Shaloub). A primary value is helping the sufferer to explain the condition to others (read: family), which is hard for many people to understand. The educational value alone makes all these efforts worth while. I applaud the actors, directors, cast and crew of all these films.

I recently watched this film a few days ago and I must say, it really took me by surprise. At the start of the film, I cracked up at the main character's behavior and the deeper I got into the film, I realized that I know someone who has the same problem but not as severely. The main actor did so well with the twitching and facial movements it made me think of the person I know who does the EXACT same thing. You feel deeply what the character does and he truly wants to control his problem but needs to face reality that he has a mental illness(?). Definitely a movie worth watching and one that will get you thinking about people who suffer or handle their OCD/Tourette's Syndrome.

This unusual movie was very well done, but overlong. The story arc is predictable, but the journey is worth the ride.

The odd camera angles do indeed help us feel Mark's discomfort. Even in casual conversations we alternate between overly tight head shots and very long shots; the camera never allows us to become comfortable with the situation.

I disagree with Missipecac in one area only. This film does indeed directly laugh at, and allow us to laugh at, the traits of OCD. I noticed, however, that this only happened between OCD sufferers. The outsiders in the film never laughed. They were always uncomfortable, frightened, distant, or confused. And the viewer was never given the opportunity to laugh in these situations.

It was only when the OCD sufferers could let their guard down and laugh (instead of crying) that the viewer could laugh along with them.

The predictableness of the plot did make for a movie that was too long. It could have been a good 10-15 minutes shorter. Even so, there was one obvious reference to a scene that was cut that I found quite jarring.

I was a spouse of a person with a major mental illness (not OCD). I would have liked to see the wife drawn a bit more fully. There were hints at her underlying sadness, regret, and guilt, but only the tiniest of hints.

I think this movie is a MUCH better examination of OCD than As Good As It Gets with Jack Nicholson. That movie was insufferably cute. In Dirty Filthy Love, even when you laugh at OCD, you never, ever find it cute or quirky.

At one level this is drama about self discovery and true love, which has been done a million times before. However, by giving the main character both Tourette's Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, it adds a twist which is enough to hold interest.

It would be interesting to hear the views of people with real experience of these conditions, to see if the portrayal is accurate. One scene is on a farm where a self-help group of OCD sufferers plunge their hands in manure to see if they can stand it. This surprised me because I thought this would be completely inconceivable for anyone who was a genuine sufferer. Also I couldn't help wondering if the script writers were mixing up different disorders. Maybe I am wrong, in any case it remains a well told story which is worth watching.

Dirty Filthy Love is one of the best films produced for British TV in 2004. Michael Sheen is a simply wonderful actor who will be BIG if he gets the breaks. As a man suffering from a marriage bust up compounded by Compulsive Obsessive Disorder and Tourette's, he injects a huge amount of pathos and humour into the role. Long after the film is over you will still be seeing Michael barking like a dog and swearing uncontrollably at complete strangers. It's a brave, touching and very funny film about a difficult subject told without artificial sentimentality, thoroughly recommended. When you've seen this, rush off to get Sheen in another little British gem 'Heartlands'.