'
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Dirty Laundry

Play trailer Poster for Dirty Laundry PG-13 Released Dec 7, 2007 1h 47m Comedy Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
50% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Family secrets bubble to the surface when a closeted gay man (Rockmond Dunbar) returns home to see his mother (Loretta Devine) and learns that he has a young son.

Critics Reviews

View All (12) Critics Reviews
Kyle Smith New York Post The tone is good-natured enough to make a simple movie semi-watchable. Rated: 2/4 Dec 7, 2007 Full Review Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News Looking for plot holes? You can't miss them. But if you go in hoping for a good time, you'll find that, too. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 7, 2007 Full Review Matt Zoller Seitz New York Times Mr. Jamal's direction ranges from clumsy to competent. Fortunately, even as Mr. Jamal's characters hit notes reminiscent of a half-baked television pilot, they disclose eccentricities that his cast spins into comic gold. Rated: 3/5 Dec 7, 2007 Full Review Don Willmott Filmcritic.com run of the mill, with a few good laughs along the way Rated: 3/5 Feb 15, 2008 Full Review Brian Juergens AfterElton.com Is it sidesplitting? No, but it's cute. Is it wonderfully wicked? No, but it's got a few twists and turns. Is it a classic? Probably not, but it's an encouraging move into a new kind of gay film and a story not often told. Rated: 6/10 Jan 22, 2008 Full Review David Noh Film Journal International By far the best of a plethora of holiday family-reunion films, Maurice Jamal's warmly hilarious Dirty Laundry is particularly blessed with the presence of Loretta Devine Dec 19, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (52) audience reviews
Audience Member Great movie!!! Loved the acting and comedy!!! Pretty good cast as well!! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 12/06/17 Full Review Audience Member amusingly decent but with an abrupt ending that leaves a sour taste. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member better than i thought would be Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't know if I was just in the perfect mood to see this or what, but I found the movie charming, sweet, and really funny! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Evelyn Davis cleans laundry for a living but does she know that in her household, she'll have to air out her family's "Dirty Laundry?" It takes a 1/2 hour for the plot to really kick in. By that time, some viewers may give up since it's sitcom material. Now, when the "secret" happens, it gets interesting but the screenplay doesn't help to engage viewers since we're dealing with stereotypes. Give credit to writer/director Maurice Jamal for handling a sensitive subject among African Americans though. Loretta Devine is devine as the matriach and the role is well suited to her personality. I also liked Rockmond Dunbar as the gay son Sheldon Patrick. However, they misuse Jenifer Lewis as a bigot shrew named Lettuce; she doesn't she have any shadings. Another interesting character is the white boyfriend, Ryan, played by Joey Costello who is not attractive. Can anyone write smart dialogue? I was cringing at his preaching about divas to the young girl and his insistence on watching figure skating when the guys wanted to watch sports. Lots of gay men are interested in sports. It's too bad that Jamal couldn't break gay stereotypes but milks them for laughs. We hear alot about religion and see the family at church, but what good is that when they are so dysfunctional. The movie seems to be saying that acceptance is the glue for family but I'd like to understand how that is earned. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member The dried eggs joke was excellent Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dirty Laundry

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All Cast and Crew

Maurice Jamal

Director

Rockmond Dunbar

Patrick

Loretta Devine

Evelyn

Jenifer Lewis

Lettuce

Terri J. Vaughn

Jackie

Sommore

Abby

More Like This

View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
Saved! 61% 78% Saved! Watchlist Big Eden 64% 79% Big Eden Watchlist Breakfast With Scot 54% 65% Breakfast With Scot Watchlist Unconditional Love 17% 68% Unconditional Love Watchlist Year of the Dog 70% 43% Year of the Dog Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All Dirty Laundry photos

Dirty Laundry

Dirty Laundry (2006) Dirty Laundry (2006) Dirty Laundry (2006) Dirty Laundry (2006) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Family secrets bubble to the surface when a closeted gay man (Rockmond Dunbar) returns home to see his mother (Loretta Devine) and learns that he has a young son.
Director
Maurice Jamal
Producer
Re'Shaun Frear, Rockmond Dunbar, Andre Robert Lee
Screenwriter
Maurice Jamal
Production Co
MoJAM Entertainment, inHale Entertainment
Rating
PG-13 (Language|Thematic Elements|Some Sexual Content)
Genre
Comedy, Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 7, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$20.1K
Runtime
1h 47m