Alice Eve and Matthew Broderick are two colleagues travelling from Los Angeles to Dallas for a big presentation. A storm hits, and they are diverted to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Broderick (Les) is a bit of a whiner, but Eve (Nat) soon gets things under control. They make their way to an airport hotel lounge and while he gets fidgety, she starts rooting around for alternate flights.
There’s something about being in Albuquerque that has him antsy, and even though they should remain ready to pounce on any possible flight, he insists on going into town for a little while. He claims it’s to pick up some gifts for his kids. Nat is annoyed, but agrees that they aren’t married and he’s free to do what he wants. When Les is getting a taxi, Nat surprises him, and that’s when you know that something is going to go down that won’t sit well with the HR department.
Dirty Weekend is Neil LaBute’s second low-budget, dialogue-heavy film starring Alice Eve. Some Velvet Weekend, which also debuted at Tribeca, was a dark, sexual, psychological workout. This, too, is ultimately about hidden, private desires, but it’s much more light. Indeed, when you’ve got Matthew Broderick nebbishing it up at near-Woody Allen decibels, it’s hard to think of this as anything other than a comedy. So when Les’s allegedly shocking peccadilloes are revealed, the weight with which they are presented doesn’t quite convince.
Nat’s big secret is revealed far sooner, but is actually more interesting. She is a Cambridge university graduate who says things like “we’re in a spot of bother” in a posh accent, and is also a lesbian submissive. I’ve no doubt that LaBute has done his research, but there’s something about the stereotypical way her sexuality and preferences are presented that feels quite false.
The whole film is a bit contrived, as the two wander around the empty civic structures of Albuquerque and trade quips. It’s a play shoehorned into a film. Sometimes that can work – LaBute’s managed it before – but it’s a steep hill to climb, and this one doesn’t quite make it
There are some chuckles here and there, as LaBute can be quite clever. A few characters, such as a dopey Shakespeare-loving cab driver reading a comic-book adaptation of “Henry Vee,” float in and out and provide a smile. By the time we reach night, though, the pair have to decide how to continue their lives. It all happens over the course of one day, not, in fact, a dirty weekend, but this is a trip where you don’t need extra time to see everything.
