I’m not sure what to make of Dirty Girl. It’s far from great, and I’m not sure I would watch it again (I might,) but enjoyed it way more than I expected to. It has a certain infectious, quirky style running through the entire film, a style that stops just short of being corny but at the same time is somehow totally earnest – I can’t think of an apt comparison right of the top of my head. The way the bag of flour (the kids’ baby from a class project) becomes a “person” over the course of the story is a perfect example – it takes some serious artistic discipline to do this kind of thing and have it remain charming for the entire film and not cross over into pure silliness. The film is so low-key and human that the various problems with the narrative start to recede, and you get swept up enjoying the fun, good-natured, slightly odd story.

Dirty Girl is about two teenage kids dealing with alienation who run away from their dysfunctional families and over the course of the film find a certain solace in each other. Because it is set in the 1980’s, the characters actually talk to each other (instead of staring into their fucking phones like zombies,) and the soundtrack in the film is fun, emotional and transporting (no autotuned robo-chicks singing about self love and positive thinking.) The dialog is pretty good, better than decent, and the two main characters traverse interesting story arcs in the course of the film.

It helps that the film has strong, charismatic leads: Juno Temple has a really interesting screen presence, nice emotional range, and the ability to fit herself into roles without calling undue attention to her craft – she has the makings of one hell of an actress. Newcomer Jeremy Dozier is also really good, and the two have a good chemistry. All the supporting actors are solid, especially Dwight Yoakam as the completely disgusting father of Dozer, and Tim McGraw (who has an incredibly warm presence) as Temple’s long lost father.

They overplayed the finale a bit (it was still cute,) but other than that I found it a surprisingly captivating little film. I highly recommend Dirty Girl!