Joe Dirt

Before I saw this movie, I was turned off by all the negative reviews and the fact that it was a SNL spinoff. But I bought a used tape from my video store. Instead of war coverage and serious drama, this has become a ray of hope. Make no mistake, it ain't winning any Oscars. But the slapstick is funny, has great co-stars like Joe Don Baker and Chris Walken. It has a good plotline, a search for his family. It's a lot of laughs and fun for plebes at heart. Serious, deep people will be offended, but when we try to make humor serious and deep, we're in trouble.

For a typical low-brained Hollywood comedy of this era, it was a pretty nice film. Of course, few if any modern-day comedies are "family fare" and this one isn't either but the lead character is a gentle, harmless guy. David Spade is very entertaining as "Joe Dirt," a down-and-out nice guy (but not exactly pure, either) who tells his tale of trying to find his parents to sleazy disc jockey "Zander Kelly" (Dennis Miller). Brittany Daniel is an attractive, likable female lead.

It's a fast-moving hour-and-a-half. Some of the scenes are outrageous, such as a dog getting his - can I say this? - testicles stuck to the porch. Yes, it's good family fare!! Ha. Ha. No, really, this was a funny film and worth looking for if you need a laugh. I'm surprised there wasn't a sequel.

Despite the fact that this movie was trashed by critics, Joe Dirt still makes me laugh every time I watch it. If you've seen other movies made by Adam Sandler, then you should know what to expect: lots of low-brow humor and implausible situations. This movie definitely isn't for film snobs, but if you're just looking for a cheap laugh, Joe Dirt is definitely worth a rental.

This movie tells the life story of a man named Joe Dirt (played by David Spade), the mullet-wearing, hard rock-loving embodiment of every white trash stereotype in existence. This is a very different type of character for David Spade, who usually plays sarcastic and bitter male secretary types as opposed to the likable moron he plays in this.

As the movie begins, Joe Dirt is working as a janitor at a radio station when he is noticed by a Howard Stern-like DJ played by Dennis Miller. The DJ calls Joe Dirt into the studio and starts asking questions, intending to use the trashy janitor as a target for ridicule. It is here where we begin to learn the back story of Joe Dirt, beginning when he was a little kid abandoned by his parents during a trip to the Grand Canyon.

After the initial radio interview, the story of Joe Dirt becomes a national pop culture phenomenon. Our hero is invited back into the studio to continue his story, which consists of his various adventures as he travels around the country looking for his long-lost family. During his travels he befriends the beautiful and kind-hearted Brandy (Brittany Daniel), is bullied by a arrogant jerk named Robbie (Kid Rock), teams up with an American Indian fireworks dealer named Kicking Wing (Adam Beach), and crosses paths with a school janitor with a shady past (Christopher Walken). You also discover that, despite the fact that Joe Dirt is a crude and ignorant individual, you can't help but find yourself rooting for him and admiring his ability to keep a positive attitude despite all the bad things that keep happening to him.

I gave this movie a 7 out of 10. It's funny, even uplifting, and worth seeing at least once if you aren't offended by toilet humor.

Joe Dirt is simply one of those underappreciated comedies. Having reacquainted myself with it recently (and repeatedly) after having not seen it in almost two years, I myself am beginning to realize that. Not only is it thoroughly funny, it is entertaining and fast paced. David Spade plays Joe Dirt, a kind, well meaning radio-station janitor with an unusual hairdo (mullet!) and extremely bad-luck. He shares his life-story with the listeners of the radio station, which mainly focuses around his never-ending search for his parents (who ditched him on a family trip to the Grand Canyon) and his unrecognized love for hometown hottie Brandy. Joe meets many unusual people along the way, has many misadventures, and as if you couldn't guess, sets himself up for many disgusting and painful situations. The humor is pretty low-brow, but who cares? The movie is funny and that's the bottom line. What I like about this movie is that I can just turn it on and let go. The movie is so well-made for a simple comedy. Spade wrote the script himself, and you can tell he took his time. Every event in the movie happens for a reason and alludes to something that will occur later down the road. Also, Joe Dirt is Spade's first likeable character. You actually feel for this doofus. Even though he looks like white-trash, he is still a good person. Which of course, leads to this movie's moral: Good things come to good people. Or as Joe would say "Life's a garden, dig it!" or "You can't have 'no' in your heart!" Christopher Walken has a hilarious bit as Dirt's co-janitor at an elementary school that has been placed in the witness protection program and Kid Rock plays Joe's bully perfectly (I love the part where he reads the note just like those guys in high school who couldn't read past 2nd grade reading level). But Spade is the real star here. Too bad this character/movie never took off. I seriously love this movie. It is consistently hilarious, has dozens of quoteable lines (stuff that you say to people in your daily routine) and has an overall feel good vibe to it. I don't know how anyone can trash this movie. For one thing, it's an Adam Sandler production, you know what type of humor you're in for. And secondly: The movie is called 'Joe Dirt!' There are no pretensions here, folks. I wish there were more movies like this out there. And although not everyone appreciates it, I am glad that I at least have this movie and can watch it a million times if I want to. Joe Dirt, you're my hero.

10/10

As a young boy, Joe [David Spade] got seperated from his parents [Caroline Aaron and Fred Ward]. Ever since then he's spent his life on a journey to find them. On his journey he meets a nice girl named Brandy [Brittany Daniel], a Fireworks salesman named Kicking Wing [Adam Beach], and a friendly janitor named Clem [Christopher Walken]. David Spade is great in this hilarious adventure/comedy full of crude humor. It also has a fantastic soundtrack featuring classic songs from Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick, The Doobie Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eddie Money, Joe Walsh, and more!