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"Meet Wally Sparks" is a screwball comedy in the vein of an Adam Sandler vehicle or latter-day "National Lampoon" movie. Sure, it's dumb. Sure, it's cheap. Sure, there's no Palm D'Or award sitting on the director's shelf. But some movies are not destined for accolades or AFI lists or anything above the $8.99-and-under used video rack at Blockbuster.

This movie has a drunken horse, three Southern ladies (one of them Cindy Williams) dancing in their skivvies to "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On", a fight between Sumo wrestlers and WWF stars, and Tony Danza reprising his role as Tony from "Taxi" doing a Rodney Dangerfield impression. Oh, and lest it be overlooked, RODNEY FRIGGIN' DANGERFIELD.

Come on. It's goofy, it's fun, it doesn't cost more than the price of a pack of cigarettes to own. Rodney and Oscar may not mix, but live-action cartoons and Rodney go pretty well together.

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.

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.

But who cares because, though hit or miss with the jokes, "Meet Wally Sparks" has enough laughs to fill several of today's lame comedy efforts. Rodney Dangerfield cannot be contained with his rapid fire comeback comedy routine, and a loud mouth talk show host suits him perfectly as the ideal outlet for his crass comments. Think adults doing "Animal House", and you will be close to describing this funny film. Lots of cameos add to the fun, with Burt Reynolds especially memorable as Wally's boss and old friend. One thing worth mentioning is that the movie moves quickly from one joke to the next, and thus there are few dead spots. It is also the type of film that gets better with multiple viewings. Recommended. - MERK

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 ****