| Dirty Love | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Mallory Asher |
| Written by | Jenny McCarthy |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Eric Wycoff |
| Edited by | Warren Bowman |
| Music by | D. A. Young |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | First Look International |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $36,099[1] |
Dirty Love is a 2005 Americanromantic comedy film written byJenny McCarthy and directed byJohn Mallory Asher. The film stars McCarthy alongsideEddie Kaye Thomas,Carmen Electra,Victor Webster andKam Heskin. The film follows a photographer's misadventures in dating after her boyfriend cheats on her.
The film was first shown at the2005 Sundance Film Festival followed by a limited theatrical release on September 23, 2005. Dirty Love was universally panned by critics who criticized its humor, screenplay, acting, Asher's direction, andcinematography. At the26th Golden Raspberry Awards, the film won four of its six Razzie nominations, includingWorst Picture,Worst Screenplay,Worst Director, andWorst Actress for McCarthy. It is often considered to be one of theworst films of all time.
Rebecca Sommers, a strugglingphotographer, discovers her modelboyfriend Richard cheating on her, which throws her life into turmoil. She alternates between seeking revenge, engaging in casualrelationships, and feeling hopeless about love. Her friends, Michelle and Carrie, try to help by setting her up on various dates, including with a peculiar magician and a man with a fish fetish who gives her ecstasy.
In an attempt to make Richardjealous, Rebecca takes a film director reminiscent ofWoody Allen to a runway show, but the plan backfires when he vomits on her in public. Eventually, Rebecca realizes that true love is not about jealousy or games. She chooses to be with John, her supportive and caring best friend, who has been there for her throughout her struggles.
Struggling photographer Rebecca Sommers finds her model boyfriend Richard in bed with another woman. Her life falls apart, and she alternates between desire for revenge upon him, sexual promiscuity, and abandonment of all hope of love. Her best friends, Michelle and Carrie, try to set her up on dates. These include one with a freakish magician and another with a man who gives herecstasy and has a fetish for fish. She attempts to make Richard jealous by taking a director, who is reminiscent ofWoody Allen, to a runway show, but he ends up vomiting on her breasts in front of everyone.
Ultimately, Rebecca realizes she should focus her energy on being with someone who truly loves her, and that turns out to be John, her nerdy, effeminate but caring best male friend who has been supportive of her through the entire ordeal.
At the time of filming, McCarthy and Asher were married; they divorced the month the film was released.[2]
Dirty Love opened theatrically on September 23, 2005, in 44 venues and earned $23,281 in its opening weekend.[3] The film ended its run two weeks later, on October 6, 2005, having grossed a mere $36,099 in the domestic box office.[1]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 6% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 2.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "The laugh-free Dirty Love is a comedy dead zone -- it's aggressively crude and shoddily constructed."[4]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 9 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[5]
Film criticRoger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave a rare zero-star rating and said it was the third-worst film of 2005. In his written review, he stated, "Here is a film so pitiful, it doesn't rise to the level of badness. It is hopelessly incompetent."[6]
Stephen Holden ofThe New York Times gave the film 0/5 stars, writing: "Even by the standards of its bottom-feeding genre, 'Dirty Love' clings to the gutter like a rat in garbage."[7]
Jeremy C. Fox ofPajiba highlighted ironic enjoyment of the film, stating, "Dirty Love is in the worst possible taste. It has crossed the Himalayas of bad taste and come out the other side. And for that reason, if no other, I kinda love it." He concludes, "The response toDirty Love says less about the movie than it does the bullying, herd-following nature of most movie critics."[8] Oz ofeFilmCritic gave the film 3/5 and said "Dirty Love is a surprisingly good effort that will fall short only because of poor direction, poor editing, and the stigma of the lead having only previously been involved in crap."[9]
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Raspberry Awards[10] | Worst Picture | Won | |
| Worst Director | John Mallory Asher | Won | |
| Worst Actress | Jenny McCarthy | Won | |
| Worst Supporting Actress | Carmen Electra | Nominated | |
| Worst Screenplay | Jenny McCarthy | Won | |
| Worst Screen Couple | Jenny McCarthy and "anyone dumb enough to befriend or date her" | Nominated | |
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[11] | Worst Picture | Nominated | |
| Worst Actress | Jenny McCarthy | Nominated | |
| Worst Supporting Actress | Carmen Electra | Nominated | |
| Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy | Nominated | ||
| Most Annoying Fake Accent (Female) | Carmen Electra | Nominated | |
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture 26th Golden Raspberry Awards | Succeeded by |
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