Dirty Deeds (2005)

There is a genre that just seems to go on and on is the teen ranch comedy. Tracing its roots to Porky’s in 1982 and ramped up in gross out humor in 1999; this form of film has brought the audiences in time and time again. One of the latest entries into this line of flicks is ‘Dirty Deeds’. While all the prerequisite elements are present the film is a mere echo of its predecessors. It does have its moments and there are some talented young actors in the ensemble but ultimately it does not meet even the loose standards of the genre. Most of what is presented will be familiar to the target audience. Some variations on a theme are included but this familiar territory. One departure from the format is the film is rated PG-13 instead of the more liberal R or unrated presentation. This did limit the one thing such a film can offer, gross humor. A big part of ranch teen comedies is there has to be a series of escalating gross endeavors. The premise here provides somewhat of a framework for the antics.

The action, as it were, takes place in West Valley High, a typical high school where each person in attendance must fit into one of the pre-defined cliques. As always, at the top of the social pyramid are the jocks and their cheerleader girlfriends. Lawton (Matthew Carey) is their undisputed leader constantly attended by his lettermen jacketed toadies and his beautiful by somewhat mindless head cheerleader girlfriend Allison (Arielle Kebbel). True to form these athletic demigods have to prove their machismo by constantly picking on the weakest boy in the school, freshman Kyle (Wes Robinson). He seems to have been born with Nerd tattooed on his forehead and a sign ‘apply wedgies here’ posted on his back. His sister is the extremely pretty but socially unconnected senior Meg (Lacey Chabert), who is so intelligent that she is on the fast track to becoming her class valedictorian At the start of the film Meg approaches the senior that Kyle hangs out with, Zach Harper (Milo Ventimiglia). Although he is bright and quick witted he is a slacker and Meg is afraid that Kyle will wind up in trouble by associating with Zach.

There has been a tradition at West Valley High that goes back decades, performing the dirty deeds. This is a list of ten increasingly difficult and unsavory tasks that if perform will place the doer in the lasting lore of the school. In all the years students have been trying only one has ever gotten through eight of them, a feat considered a success. After getting through the deeds legend has it he simply disappeared never to be seen again. For those who dare a statement must be made before the student body that the challenge has been taken. The student body president then takes out an old key, goes to a deserted locker in the bowels of the school and retrieves the folder with the tasks within. The first deed is given and upon its completion each successive task is assigned. Tired of being picked on Kyle announces that he will take on the deeds. Zach, having promised Meg to look after him pushes in and demands senior class privilege and takes the deeds for himself. By doing this he hopes to save the hapless Kyle and win the affections of the fair Meg. Through wits, help from unlikely sources and pure dumb luck Zack proceeds from deed to deed.

While having a plot and story continuity is not really important in a flick like this Dirty Deeds has some glaring gaps to content with. Even though Lawton has a devoted girlfriend in Allison he has an ambition to be with the brainy Meg. This serves only to set up why her kid brother Kyle is the object of Lawton’s abuse. The one thing that really bothered me was the deeds themselves. If these tasks where as legendary as the plot requires why is everyone so surprised by the announcement of each of the deeds? The deeds themselves apparently never change; they should be well ensconced in the local folk lore. On the positive side how Zack performs the deeds usually involves his ability to think quickly and find loop holes. For example the first deed is to drink a beer in front of the police. Zack grabs a coffee cup, pours in the beer and goes over to cops having dinner. After all the deed did not state what container the beer had to be in.

Casting Milo Ventimiglia, a 27 year old actor, as an 18 year old is a bit of a stretch. Here he plays a typical bad boy with a basically good heart. He is very intelligent despite his slacker public persona. Naturally he is attracted to the brightest girl in the school. Ventimiglia first became well known on the television series ‘The Gilmore Girls’ where he played Jesse, the intelligent bad boy after the brainy Rory. His type casting here apparently won out over the age difference. It also provided an actor who is comfortable in this specific type of presentation. Ventimiglia is able to pull off the role simply because the audience views it as an extension of his television work. Female lead Lacey Chabert is one of the more talented actresses on the scene today. Even at her young years she is a veteran of stage, screen and television. She first came to the general public’s attention with her role on the popular series, Party of Five. Her trademark squeaky voice has mellowed some but her enthusiasm for her roles has never dimmed. Although she was much better presented in her recent film, Mean Girls, she gives her all here showing her professionalism.

This is director David Kendall freshmen effort for a feature film after taking the helm with many minor television series. As such he paces this flick in an episodic fashion. He has an eye for framing a scene but will do well to work on the timing of the humor. The biggest fault of the film lies with writers Jonathan Thies and Jon Lands. They take a premise that has been included in many myths, a series of tasks to win out over evil, but does not allude to it properly. Instead they use this time tested plot device as means to create one odd task after another.

For a smaller studio, Freestyle Releasing does a very good job of presenting this film on DVD. Unfortunately, the unrated version was not made available for review. It might have been interesting to see what was cut from the theatrical release. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is clear, free of any defect or artifacts. The color balance is well done with excellent contrast. The Dolby 5.1 audio is mastered at an exceptionally high volume. You will have to turn your receiver in order to listen comfortably. The channel separate is better than many recent releases. There are a few extras presented here. There is an interview with the cast that is pretty standard now and the required theatrical trailer. One different featurette is ‘special footage’ from major league baseball’. This is due to the participants in the production company, Green Diamond Entertainment. This is a group of major league players including Todd Zeile and Jason Giambi, who also garner executive producer credits. For the teen set this may work but if you are facing the tenth anniversary reunion of your high school class it will not hold your attention.

Posted 1/21/06