Rating: 
Summary: Director plus Cast equals Magnificent Film
Review: Stephen Frears has given us some very fine films ('My Beautiful Laundrette', 'The Grifters', 'Dangerous Laisons' among others of a broad spectrum of types) and though these were all excellent films, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS is his best work to date. Simply stated, the story is an inside view of how a group of immigrants (mostly illegal) in London survive, having escaped their home country for promise of a better life and yet not really finding it in the threat of living sub rosa in the underbelly of London. Okwe (Chiwetel Eijiofor in an amazingly sensitive portrayal) has immigrated from Nigeria where he was a physician mistakenly accused of killing his wife but now works as a taxi driver and a hotel clerk just to survive. He ends up rooming with a hotel maid Senay (the always impressive Audrey Tautou as a Turkish immigrant) and with her assistance discovers a black market operation where human organs are obtained from desperate immigrants and sold to 'respectable' physicians for transplants. In their attempt to avoid being deported by the police, Okwe and Senay join with hooker Juliette (Sophie Okonedo), morgue tender Guo Yi (Benedict Wong) and the all important doorman to the hotel, Ivan (Zlatki Busic) to trick the hotel manager Sneaky/Juan (Sergi Lopez), who masterminds the organ harvesting, into inadvertently aiding their escape to other countries to resolve their lives. Though the story alone is rich in character detail and interest, it is the underplayed vulnerability of the wonderful immigrants that captures our hearts and makes us examine the plight of this unappreciated 'underclass' of people who live on hope. A very sensitive, evocatively filmed, strange movie that packs a tremendous wallop. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Troubling...and unforgettable
Review: The sweatshops and horrid life of impoverished illegal immigrants is a sad reality, and not a story told often enough. I found the performances gritty, and realistic, (particularly the leading actor playing the doctor who had to flee Africa). There are some stereotypes to be sure, but I wasn't distracted by them, and I was very moved by the horrific sacrifices made by the characters to escape the tyranny of their homelands, only to find "slavery", rather than freedom, in the west.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted my money back.
Review: Trying to represent the plight of what other reviewers have called the "gritty London underbelly," Frear's Dirty Pretty Things only utilizes the most melodramatic means to present the most stereotyped picture of immigrant life. The film's heart-wrenching story is wrought with the subtlety of a metaphoric hammer pounding meaning into your priveleged American soul (or of a heart found in a toilet! how avant garde!), while its MTVesque cinematography (red is anger! blue is sad!) is nearly as simplistic. The characters are unconvincing, Tatou's attempt at a Turkish accent is completely incomprehensible, and the central conflict is absolutely undefendable. As a whole, this film depicts immigrants in a overwhelmingly one-dimensional manner, becoming, by the end, an insult to the very people it is meant to "represent". To state that this realistic film on a powerful subject would be a gross, self-delusional lie.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie of the Year
Review: Dirty Pretty Things should be nominated for Best Picture of the Year. Gene Shallit (sp?) was right on when he described Dirty Pretty Things and Lost in Translation as THE two must-see movies of 2003. Lost in Translation is great. Dirty Pretty Things is even better.
Rating:
Summary: magnificent film !!
Review: for those of us who've followed the work of stephen frears for some time now, it should be no surprise how great dirty pretty things actually is. here you have a suspenseful, if not at times disturbing drama of british immigrant workers & they risks they will encounter everyday not to be deported. in addition to being avery gripping thriller which will have you on edge at all times, dirty pretty things is also a bittersweet love story which previous reviewers have failed to mention or comment on. although the box cover shows audrey tautou as the lead actress, the protagonist whom we spend the majority of the film with is a taxi driver, hotel worker, & doctor called okwe (played flawlessly by none other than chiwetal ejifor who many of you will remember from amistad) although both tautou & ejifor give excellent & believable performances, ejifor gives the most outstanding performance of the two. the story begins with okwe working as a hotel clerk discovering a human heart in one of the hotel rooms' toilets. with the help of a hooker & a turkish immigrant maid(tautou), okwe sets out to unravel the mystery of the while moral values & ethics are tested. we discover later on that this isn't the first time he has struggled to maintain his identity while helping others in grave situations. the suspense really builds up when we learn that the black market organ collectors may be after okwe's roommate played beautifully by the ever-talented audrey tautou. definately not a film to be missed & certainly worth adding to your dvd collection. again, stephen frears fans won't be the slightest bit disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Dirty Pretty Things
Review: Audrey Tautou and Chiwetel Ejiofor gave incredible performances. The movie as a whole was great, never a dull moment. I am a huge Audrey Tautou movie and this is definitely her best movie to date.
Rating: 
Summary: PREDICTABLE BUT WATCHABLE THRILLER
Review: The movie probably deserves a 3/5 but I fail to understand why reviewers think this is such a superb thriller -- perhaps a function of Really Low Expectations? First, the movie's take on morality is kindergarten: the poor are good, the rich are bad. Further, the good are too good, the bad, too bad. There's no middle ground, no adult reality in a film which claims to be oh-so-adult, it plays instead of a strained sentimentality. There's much of London (the setting of the movie) but the cinematography does a very poor job of incorporating the city in a way that, say, Woody Allen makes New York a character in his movies. Next, it uses hackneyed devices such as traffic jams. The notion of waking up in a hotel room, with a scar where your kidney used to be, was an unsubstantiated, widely circulated rumor a few years back. The movie derives from gossip, scare-tactic sensationalism, not true social consciousness, reality, or truth. The chemistry between Okwe and Senay is forced. For most of the film, there seems to be mostly friendship, maybe some affection, between them; then the Chinese morgue attendant announces, "This girl's in love with you," et voilà , the two are suddenly in love -- a rather cheap way to cross that threshold. The acting, direction, and writing are decent, but not great. Audrey Tautou is just too sterile and neat in a part that required more messiness and sweat; she's too much of a milken maid to play a woman who defies convention and strikes out so boldly on her own. Ejoifor has an interesting scar on his forehead, but otherwise is too much like Denzel Washington, a safe, neat rendition of a black man for the white screen. Only Sergi Lopez, Juan, livens up the screen when he's on it, and that in a rather predictable way. All in all, a DVD worthy of a rental but nothing I'd stand in queues for.
Rating:
Summary: A TRULY PLEASANT SURPRISE
Review: Going into this...I had no idea what sort of movie to expect. The paragraph long description in the newspaper sounded like something akin to a mystery / slasher flick. Leaving the movie, TOTALLY THRILLED I had come, I'm still at a loss as to how to describe it. It IS a mystery. But it's also a romance. And a socio-political commentary. And a rich character drama. And even a sly comedy from time to time. It deals with the "sub-culture" of illegal workers in England, living under the radar and all working in a posh but seedy hotel in London. They come from all over the world, and live in great poverty, afraid of making too many waves. We are introduced to a desk clerk from Africa, a man who fled his country for a "crime he didn't commit" and now is just getting by. When called to a hotel room about some faulty plumbing, he discovers a human heart clogging the toilet! Sounds like a slasher flick, right? Not hardly. This is only the jumping off point for a movie that is so tender in its characterizations that I have rarely rooted more avidly for its principals. This is a movie for adults, of course, and also for adults who don't mind a movie that has a lot of plot threads on its mind. But it ties them all neatly together, as secrets are piled up but eventually are all explained. The climax is thrilling, in a low key way, and very satisfying. There is also a very bittersweet romance, that I won't delve into here, that was truly sweet and memorable. I know I haven't explained the movie all that well...but trust me, it's a doozy of a good time.
Rating:
Summary: If You Liked "Amelie"...
Review: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou perform wonderfully together in this fantastic flick about imigrants in London and the black marketing of human organs. This movie portrayed a very real and serious situation in which immigrants are preyed upon by greedy and inhumane people. It is shockingly realistic and at the same time adds the silver lining of the cinema with a beautifully crafted story line and the dramatic portrayal of the main characters. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Tightly Structured Thriller With Something To Say
Review: It isn't often that you see a well-crafted thriller with something on its mind, but "Dirty Pretty Things" is one of those films. It tells the story of Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian living in London illegally. He works two jobs: one as a taxi driver and the other inside a second-rate hotel. This doesn't give him much time to do anything, but work. When it is time to rest, he has an unusual living arrangement with Senay (Audrey Tautou), a Turkish immigrant that also works at the hotel. They share the same flat, but never occupy it at the same time. One night, while Okwe is working at the hotel, he is asked to check on a room and discovers a human heart. When he tells his boss Sneaky Juan (Sergi López), he's told to keep quiet or he'll risk deportation. This causes Okwe to have a moral dilemma, which drives this fascinating story of the underside of London live. Without revealing too much of the plot, "Dirty Pretty Things" keeps raising the stakes and makes you really care about the plight of the main characters. Fans of the international hit "Amélie," might be a bit surprised by Ms. Tautou's performance as Senay. Some might find her work shocking, but it clearly indicates that Tautou is an actor unafraid of taking risks. She and Mr. Ejiofor are a pleasure to watch on screen together. Okwe is reminiscent of some of Sidney Poitier's early films. He's sensitive, noble and has strong moral convictions. That's something you don't see much in film today. Ejiofor's performance is all the more remarkable given the world in which his character lives in. Okwe is surrounded by morally bankrupt people that will do anything to become British citizens. He stands tall in the face of many temptations. While a fascinating and provocative film, "Dirty Pretty Things" may not be for everybody. However, if you're looking for an intelligent story with complex characters and don't mind venturing into a seedy world, this film is for you.
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