Salim Adel (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a LAPD patrol cop. His partner Armando Sancho (Clifton Collins, Jr.) is a former gang member.Cuba tries his best copy of Denzel in Training Day and it works for a little while. I think Denzel is just on a different level. Cuba seems to fade. He's not able to keep it up. As they follow their dark path, it becomes less and less relevant. I don't care about these characters. I find no rooting interest in either of these characters. In the end, I have little interest in the movie itself. This is only for die-hard Cuba fans.

The 25th Of January 2013 is a bad day for me . I inadvertently typed in the wrong PIN number on my bank card which means I can't get any money out of the machine in the wall and since it's the weekend that means Saturday and Sunday with no money . My boiler is on the blink which means a very expensive call out for a plumber . Oh hold even if I had my bank card there's no money in my account . Cold showers for the foreseeable future and my cold shower tomorrow morning I've got a very long bus journey for a jobs fair that I've promised the job centre I'd attend otherwise no benefits . I could have done with some cheering up so switched on the TV to watch DIRTY which hopefully would take my mind off my problems for a couple of hours . It didn't . It compounded themThe premise is good though obviously unoriginal . If you've the other comments here you'll see that the critics are reminded of several other films all of which are superior to this one , but the story isn't beyond redemption . The problem is the director Chris Fisher adopts a painfully over stated stance involving cinematography , editing and soundtrack . It could be the greatest screenplay ever written and within minutes the audience would be switching to over to something more relaxing such as MTV's 100 Loudest Nu-Metal Countdown . Honestly the directing is in yer face your head will explode It's certainly not the greatest screenplay ever but that said in the final third the story becomes compelling enough - if not to redeem the film - then to certainly stop DIRTY gaining a rare one out ten rating from me . Perhaps it was the fact I empathise that the two corrupt cops find themselves sinking deeper and deeper in an existentialist quicksand of their own making . That said their misery was one of their own making and of course they're mere characters in a fictional film where as people in real life find themselves sinking in to a metaphorical swamp it's usually caused by bad circumstance . But hey at least you've still got your health

Some reviewers have compared "Dirty" to "Training Day", but the similarity ends with the fact that the protagonists are police officers. In my opinion the treatment of "Dirty" is far too complex compared to "Training Day". It has been a long while that I have seen a film that cranked up the ante to a degree that you can't tell what is going to happen next (and most certainly not because the film was lacking in clarity). "Dirty" is a glimpse into the dark underworld of lawless police officers competing with hard core inner city gangsters of African-American and Hispanic origin. It also peripherally shows how teenagers get involved in this cesspool.Clifton Collins Jr.'s playing the conscience plagued character of police officer Armando is deep and wrenching. His conflict was completely palpable to this viewer. And this conflict is the film's centrally redeeming aspect where a rash and irresponsible act is shown to have inner consequences for Armando's character, possessed as he is with "the better angels of our nature".Cuba Gooding's character is impulsive, juvenile, rash and highly distracting both in demeanour and actions throughout the film. He is the psychopath of the piece. Despite this his character is quite straightforward. He enjoys throwing his weight around because HE wears the uniform, but can't handle his power even as a bad cop.There are moments when the action gets confusing e.g. the "Nantucket" situation, but it was meant to be a chaotic scenario as none of the characters quite fully knows what has happened to others.I truly enjoyed the ritualistic element of the Hispanic gangsters, the white coat, the symbolism of the death masks, philosophizing of the lead gangster at the end whose dialogue delivery was intelligently enunciated, with none of the stereotypical Hispanic accent. This simple device I thought brought credibility to the gang leader's character. And the strange version of Russian roulette was intriguing.The coming together of the dark fantasy element (with commonplace everyday lives of the two officers) when Armando has flashbacks of his actions, as well right at the end when he is shown seated next to Cuba Gooding's character was I thought very nicely done.Many reviewers here didn't like the film at all. I think it is just too raw a film, and its grittiness can become jarring for some viewers e.g. the constant profanity, which I think is an integral part of the lives of such characters. But to others it may distract them from following the film.I thought it was an excellent film...it likely won't make good or entertaining viewing for those who are not into film noir. But for those who are, it is an excellent film.

I was shocked after watching just the first few minutes of this film. It is amazing how this final version even came close to making the cut. Cuba gooding is a good actor. Remember in Boyz in the hood when the bad cop held a gun to his head and that one tear rolled down his cheek? Well what the hell happened to that guy? He is worse than a B movie actor in this film. His street accent isn't even remotely close to good and he never develops a person anyone can identify with. As for the rest of the actors, I'm sure they have to be embarrassed to even be in this film. Its sketchy, poorly written, poorly acted, and rambles on. In fact I would find it easy to believe that the director was doing Meth during production and wasn't getting enough sleep. Its crazy that some people actually liked this film. They must be shills. Have to be!