The tough life of London's illegal immigrants is examined sympathetically in Stephen Frears' film, 'Dirty Pretty Things'. At a time when the tabloids are up in arms about foreigners coming to British shores, it's an important subject. However, the quality of the acting is ordinary, and the use of thriller-style plotting perhaps mistaken; the whole drama hinges around a human heart, found in a toilet for no good reason. The ending is quite affecting, but Channel 4's 'Sex Traffic' was more ambitious, explicit and moving then this film, while Pavel Palinovsky's 'Last Resort' was a more poetic portrait of everyday despair. Compared with these, 'Dirty Pretty Things' is both a little contrived, and also a little dull.
Review of Dirty Pretty Things
