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Dirty Laundry is a comedy-romance film that premiered at the 1996 London Film Festival, but was not released in the United States until 1998. It was written and directed by Michael Normand; produced by Hollywood Productions and distributed by Artistic License Films. It is available on DVD, rated R, and was filmed in Staten Island, New York.

Plot summary
Mid-life crises abound in this ribald New Jersey-set sex-comedy. Professional dry cleaner Joey Green is not aging gracefully. With little interest in making love to his wife Beth, a rapidly growing bald spot, and a failing business, he is convinced that he has hit "male menopause." To lift his flagging spirits, Joey's therapist steers him towards a prostitute. The encounter is a flop and in fact leads to Joey's discovery of Beth's affair with her chiropractor Lowell. Worsening matters is her obvious pregnancy. Poor Joey (who is white) will have to wait several months to learn whether the baby is his or the African American Lowell's. Out of spite, Beth insists that Lowell move in with them. This creates considerable chaos amongst Joey's family, chaos that only gets worse when Lowell's estranged wife shows up to win him back. Worried about his dry-cleaning business and unduly concerned about hair loss, Thomas finds himself unable to respond sexually to his wife Tess Harper. A shrink's advice that infidelity might buck him up backfires, and soon Harper's gone off with her chiropractor. This black marital comedy is in many ways a conventional, even predictable affair, though it's enlivened by neat one-liners

Review
Creating a comedy is like making a souffle. Two chefs can work with the same ingredients and follow the same recipe, yet one result will be airy and delightful; the other, heavy and flat.

So it is with Dirty Laundry, which illustrates the proposition that a script filled with comic situations doesn't necessarily lead to comic results.

Written by Michael Normand and directed by him and Robert Sherwin, Dirty Laundry tells the story of the early midlife crisis of Joey Greene, the dry-cleaning king of New Jersey.

When first encountered, in the men's room of a convention of the National Laundrymen's Association, Joey (Jay Thomas), is worried about his thinning hair and his business. His marriage isn't in great shape, either, although he says he still loves his good-looking wife, Beth (Tess Harper), who writes for a magazine about people with poor emotional lives. In the last couple of years, Joey has slept with Beth only once.

And when Joey seeks the services of a psychiatrist, he is advised to try sex with another woman. She wasn't a prostitute; she was a prescription, Joey says in the film's best line, after Beth surprises them together.

Before Beth discovers Joey's dalliance, the audience discovers that Beth has succumbed to the charms of her black chiropractor, Lowel Bower (Stanley Earl Harrison), who is having relationship problems of his own.

So when Beth, who like her husband is white, learns she is pregnant and decides to have the baby, she is not sure who the father is and fears her infidelity will be exposed. The filmmakers pad out their work with characters like Chloe (Erin Underwood) the Greenes' college-age adopted daughter and Joey's elderly parents (Tresa Hughes and Michael Marcus), who exemplify marriages that adjust, endure and overcome problems through the decades.

There are efforts to milk humor out of the psychiatrist, dry-cleaning customers with complaints, letters sent by readers to Beth, Joey's love of cooking, a dating service and bits of business on the periphery of the action. But aside from Ms. Harper, who gives a spirited performance, Dirty Laundry exudes a tired, lifeless air.

Cast

 * Tess Harper as Beth Greene
 * Jay Thomas as Joey Greene
 * John Driver as Dr. Stoller
 * Dana Chaifetz as Amy Stanley
 * Earl Harrison as Lowell Bower
 * Teresa Hughes as Betty Greene
 * Michael Marcus as Max Greene
 * Erin Underwood as Chloe
 * Deb Armelino as Judy Tuck
 * Tom Riis Farrell as Hair Consultant
 * Judith Goldstein as
 * Gerald Gordon as Tess Harper's Father (unconfirmed)
 * Julie Hays as Gloria
 * Ingrid Johnson as OBGYN Nurse
 * Antoinette LaVecchia as Cathy