Meet Wally Sparks

i thought it was a funny movie,and a few scenes were very funny. it's never boring or stupid. there are a few,and i do mean few scenes that are unfunny,but not stupid. the plot holes are the only thing that keeps this movie from a bulls-eye,but it still has a number of laughs. i give meet wally sparks **1/2 out of ****

Those who don't like insult comedy will probably not enjoy this film, but that is no surprise. What else would you expect from a Rodney Dangerfield film but his rat-a-tat style of humor, with plenty of one-liners aimed at eviscerating those around him? It is probably best to compare this film with some of his other vehicles, like "Caddy Shack" and "Back to School", both of which feature Dangerfield as an irreverent rascal. Both of those films rein in the stand-up patois, keeping the humor on-target and relevant. In "Meet Wally Sparks", the discipline is lax, often inserting zingers just because, sometimes creating situations just to accommodate a punchline.

Dangerfield can portray likable, even lovable, characters. That is when his humor works the best. He is often self-deprecating. But this film makes little attempt to create a character with warmth.

A hefty number of cameos by many in the entertainment industry adds to the fun. But the obligatory mayhem/food fight scene just reminds us that this film could have been better with a script that had more focused humor.

A lot of energy was put into this movie. Dangerfield has some funny one-liners, but a lot of them are not funny, or you'll guess before he utters them. The plot is alternately meandering or frozen for long periods of time. (And the plot should have stayed at the talk show subject, not some dumb plot about Dangerfield crashing a govenor's pad.) Replay the climatic interview scene after watching it once - you'll see that some of Dangerfield's actions don't make that much sense. Also, see how many times the director shoots Dangerfield from the neck down - obviously, it's a stunt double.

A memo to Burt Reynolds: don't wear that particular toupee again.

I first saw MEET WALLY SPARKS on the usa network late one night and I have to say that MEET WALLY SPARKS is Rodney Dangerfield's best movie. Unlike most of his other movies where there are only a few funny bits, MEET WALLY SPARKS is funny throughout the whole movie. Pretty much every single one of the jokes are about sex-related material which isn't a complaint, just a statement. I really think that Rodney Dangerfield and Peter Basil did wrte a great script and a very funny movie. Director Peter Baldwin did a good job too for his first movie [he's directed several television shows]. If you like Rodney Dangerfield, you'll love MEET WALLY SPARKS.

Wally Sparks (Rodney Dangerfield) is the loud-mouthed host of a trashy daytime talk show. His boss Lenny Spencer (Burt Reynolds) threatens to cancel the show due to sponsor pressure. He is given a week to change the tenure of the show. He attends a party of conservative critic Georgia Governor Floyd Preston (David Ogden Stiers) which turns into publicity bonanza.

This is pure Dangerfield in his character and the quality of the movies that he leads. It's low brow comedy. He's crass and he's good at it. He remains the loveable everyman. It doesn't really make sense for him to stay in the mansion but making sense is not the highest priority. It has its fun but it doesn't really hold together. It's a bad good bad comedy.