Joe Dirt* 1/2 out of **** April 16, 2001 BY ADAM KEMPENAAR In trying to write an appropriately witty opening line to this review, I came up with two possible options: "From the producers of Big Daddy and Deuce Bigalow comes an equally unfunny waste of six bucks." Or, "Joe Dirt is so bad, David Spade should be neutered." All (bad) jokes aside, it does seem wrong somehow to rip on a stupid movie like Joe Dirt. After all, it's not trying to be Citizen Kane; it just wants to make you laugh. But that's exactly why comedies are the easiest movies to review -- because the criteria are so simple. If it's funny, then it's good. If it isn't funny, then it's bad. Regrettably, much like its title character, Joe Dirt is mostly a failure. Then again, humor is subjective, and while the movie didn't produce many laughs for me, it did have a quite a few 13-year-olds in the audience in stitches. The plot, for what it's worth, is sort of a watered down, white-trash version of Forrest Gump. Instead of recounting his life story while sitting on a park bench, Joe (David Spade) takes to the airwaves. As a janitor at an LA radio station, the mullet-haired, Lynyrd Skynyrd-loving Joe gets suckered into being the object of ridicule on a popular morning talk show hosted by the sarcastic Zander Kelly, played by Dennis Miller, who is basically playing himself. Joe becomes a regular guest on the show as he chronicles the sad tale of how his parents abandoned him at the Grand Canyon when he was 8 and how he has been criss-crossing the country ever since in search of his family. He also talks about Brandy (Brittany Daniel), the gorgeous blonde who was his only true friend. When I reviewed the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky a few months ago, I asked lamentably: "Where's the crass, vulgar comedian we used to know and love?" Although his humor was never quite as crude as Sandler's, the same question could be asked of Spade, who was hilarious on "Saturday Night Live" and also in Tommy Boy and PCU. In all of these cases, however, Spade wasn't the star. Since becoming a comedic leading man, he has appeared in the forgettable Lost & Found and now this disappointment, both of which he co-wrote. Joe Dirt does manage a few good laughs, such as when Joe pays a police sketch artist to draw his parents. Curiously, his dad resembles Father Time, while his mom ends up looking like the infamous serial killer Richard Ramirez (a.k.a. the Night Stalker), complete with pentagram tattoo. Perhaps the film's best scene -- and certainly the most uncomfortable to watch -- is when Joe encounters a dog named Charlie, whose testicles have frozen to a porch (never mind the fact that it's summer). Whenever poor Charlie tries to stand, his scrotum stretches like silly putty. Sure, it's tasteless and gross, but hey, at least it's original. Unfortunately, that is where the laughs stop - and I do mean stop. Except for the occasional chuckle, I can't recall a single genuine laugh during the last half-hour of the movie, which tries too hard to be warm and fuzzy -- not even the 13-year-olds behind me were laughing. In a movie filled with numerous fart jokes and other scatological comedic delights, that can't be a good sign. Agree? Disagree? E-mail CinemaScoped at: cinemascoped@sbcglobal.net |
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