Delayed Reaction: Dirty 30

Premise: Three friends throw a big party for one's 30th birthday.

 

I don't know Mamrie Hart well, but Hannah Hart and Grace Helbig are people who just make me smile. They are OG YouTube celebrities and their brands are basically built on being pleasant. They really won me over when I heard interviews with them where they were so damn fun. You can't fake a certain kind of chemistry. I love when the vibe of a movie is "a bunch of friends decide to make a movie". It's the secret sauce to a lot of Adam Sandler movies. It's much of the appeal of the Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg movies. It's why I enjoy even the imperfect Ocean's movies*. So, even though Dirty 30 looked derivative as hell, I really wanted to see it.

 

*To be very clear, the imperfections are only in the sequels. Ocean's 11 (2001) is a masterpiece.

 

You almost certainly haven't heard of Dirty 30, because it was a pretty tiny release and starred niche celebrities. You don't need to track it down. It's not an overlooked gem or some evolution of the genre. The best way to describe it is that if you find yourself watching it, you'll think that was OK. If you seek it out, it will probably underwhelm. It's actually impressive how many cliches it fits in. Every character, misunderstanding, and scenario is familiar. It's the kind of movie that seems like only 10 people live in the town, because they all live across the street from each other, work in the same buildings, and go to the same stores. It's best not to think too hard about the plot contrivances, because they aren't meant to be taken that seriously.

 

What's important is that Hart, Hart, and Helbig bring a lot of their chemistry to this. None of them are amazing pure actresses. They are charming personalities, and their characters are written specifically for that. The movie is best when those three are interacting with each other, which the movie could've done more. The ideal project for them is "them vs. the world" rather than "friends with their own stories interacting with each other".

 

This is a hard movie to rate. I had pretty positive feelings coming out of it, but I wouldn't really recommend it. That doesn't mean it's a guilty pleasure though. It's a weak movie with good personalities. I got joy from seeing Helbig, Hart, and Hart on screen even though it was for a pretty mediocre movie. It's actually a lot of the same feelings I have about Mystery Team now that I think about it.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend