Not Even Tide Can Clean This Mess
Dirty Laundry is worth studying. It’s a flawless, endless disaster, perfect for replaying in film school as an example of what not to do. The timing is wrong. The comedy is terrible. The gags fail. The characters are dismal.
There’s plentiful ‘80s culture inside this atrocious dud. A hair band rocks out in a concert performance, the clothes scream outmoded style, and cocaine is a centerpiece plot device. So too is a money bag, which star Leigh McCloskey inadvertently swipes, beginning this sloppy chase movie. Any charm in Dirty Laundry comes from seeing the time period on screen, but countless other films do the same – and better.
Amateurish jokes abound, like a mockery of Miami Vice, wholly worthless visual comedy that runs pointlessly overlong. McCloskey and company try to salvage what they can, but he can’t exude enough star power as the one-liner “cool” guy to overcome the low-budget mess happening around him.
Other than using actual film, Dirty Laundry appears like a side project for some college students, those usually shot on video. At least the California scenery often looks great, a minuscule positive in a movie that offers near zero entertainment value, and instead injects visual melatonin into the brain.
Video
Dirty Laundry looks every bit low budget. That’s not due to MVD’s disc, rather the film stock at the source. The image looks overexposed, clipping details in the highlights. Same goes for black levels. They crush. A messy, dirty print serves as the source, nicks and dings common too. Grain is heavy but resolved well.
Hearty color shows intensity, the best asset of this release. Where not blown out by the contrast, primaries excel. While flesh tones push a little warm, the rest looks naturally rich. Dirty Laundry sports plenty of variety too.
Lackluster resolution keeps the image soft. Fine detail isn’t a constant, but does have a few moments in close. The rest is visibly HD, but on the lesser side.
Audio
Mono serves the disc well enough. Scratchiness in the dialog fits the lower budget aesthetics and the era. Music offers range, adequate bass, and adds depth to an otherwise flat track.
Extras
YouTubers Tony Piluso, Newt Wallen, and Crystal Quinn provide the commentary. MVD tracks down Leigh McCloskey for a nearly half-hour interview. Co-star Robbie Rist then chats for 33-minutes.
Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.
Dirty Laundry
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Video
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Audio
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Extras
Movie
Astonishingly terrible, Dirty Laundry doesn’t have a single successful gag that qualifies it as a comedy.
User Review
( votes)The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 42 full resolution, uncompressed HD screen shots grabbed directly from the Blu-ray:
Matt Paprocki
Matt Paprocki has critiqued home media and video games for 20 years across outlets like Washington Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, IGN, Playboy, Polygon, Ars, and others. His current passion project is the technically minded DoBlu.com. You can read Matt's body of work via his personal WordPress blog, and follow him on Twitter @Matt_Paprocki.