Vingança sob Encomenda

Now that he's gone and we can look back on all his life's work, it feels weird that this was Norm's one and only "big" movie.

When it came out I remember laughing so hard at it. I rented the video a few times just to watch Norm's "Ridiculous" monologue, and every other line he delivered in it. I had high hopes that it would be the first of many Norm movies to come because despite its flaws, this was an extremely funny movie.

But it wasn't to be.

It was easily one of the best comedy films of the mid to late 90s, yet for some reason it wasn't the box office success that There's Something About Mary and others were. It deserved to be, solely based on Norm's performance in it, but it just didn't turn in the big bucks.

Which is sad. This was one of the best films by a SNL alumnus ever made. Just compare this movie and the laughs it generates to what his contemporaries were doing. Adam Sandler, who makes a cameo in this movie, never came close to making a movie this funny. Yet for some reason Hollywood kept churning out god awful Sandler garbage year after year. Chris Farley, who also makes a cameo in this movie and unlike Sandler was talented and funny, also never made a movie this good (though unlike Sandler he turned in some decent ones). Rob Schneider, David Spade - the list goes on. None of them made a movie anywhere near this funny.

Maybe it is a hidden blessing that this was Norm's one big movie. Norm MacDonald in 1998 was a comedian at the top of his game. This was the same Norm who just the year before went on Conan O'Brien and hijacked Courtney Thourne-Smith's appearance to single handedly create the most hilarious seven minutes in late night talk show history. Late 1990s Norm was one of the funniest comedians in history.

But having achieved such brilliant heights he had nowhere to go but down. He never crashed and was always funny (his moth joke on Conan in 2009 is deadly funny), but in later years his stand up and also his appearances on the late night circuit weren't quite able to capture that same lightening in the bottle he had in the 90s. His only other major movie appearance after this was in Screwed a couple of years later. Which was not good and we should all forget about its existence. After that he basically just did a few voice performances and cameos in movies.

Dirty Work though is what he has left us, and it is a movie that is still worth watching after all these years. Because of Norm's timeless talent for getting laughs, which he uses to full effect throughout the film.

So if you've ever seen a clip of Norm being funny and want to see more, preferable in movie form, you can't go wrong with this one.

Living in the UK I know very little about 'Saturday Night Live' comedy and I went in to this film with very little expectations and was pleasantly surprised with the result. In fact it turned out to be the funniest film that I have seen for a long while. It's laugh a minute stuff, serving up a lot of crude humour with a few daft situations which cannot fail to draw a snigger. The plot is simple:- a loser (Norm MacDonald) has to raise $50,000 to help get a heart donor for his best friends dad (Veteran actor, Jack Warden in fine form) so to do this the buddies set up their own 'revenge for hire' business with hilarious consequences. Watch out for humorous cameos by the likes of Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, John Goodman and Gary Coleman.

Most casual movie-goers do not appreciate the dry, sarcastic wit of Norm Macdonald. Many do not understand that his blunt, sometimes bombastic delivery is his trademark comedic style. While I would never call his style, "genius," he is certainly a master entertainer, in his own right. This style of his is an acquired taste. If you've managed to live your life without becoming the least bit jaded or cynical of anything, you may not understand Mr. Mcdonald's talent for humor. His coloring of even the most innocent scene with a dark innuendo or low-brow blurb is just so outrageous that we have no choice but to laugh. But those who do not understand, will find him abrasive or crass. It's true; he IS abrasive and crass, and in the most unfortunate situations he lets loose his abrasively crass innuendos and utters the most outrageous statements as facts only to correct himself by posing it as a question after he's already blurted out the first silly, obnoxious thing which comes to his mind. All this is assembled together with his honest expressions, common-everyday-Joe appearance, and expert comedic timing. Packaged within unlikely settings and a professional production, Norm Macdonald's comedic style is in the perfect element.

Dirty Work enlists the largest range of Norm Macdonald's skills of any one work I have seen. It is virtually a showcase for his talent. Unfortunately, it is commonly viewed as "mindless, low-brow, Hollywood fluff" and will therefore never receive the full appreciation of the audiences it deserves. The casual movie-goer will not be "in" on some of his one-liners, and the hard core comedic fans will be too busy critiquing his innovative comedic style to appreciate it.

This work involves Chevy Chase as an unscrupulous in-debt gambler who is willing to help our star out of his latest pickle in exchange for a load of money. I was a tad disappointed with Chevy's role in this vehicle. It could have afforded Mr. Chase's legendary talents a bit more respect by way of screen time. I found his talents were sorely under used although the drivers were pistoned after his specific flair. I did not quite agree with this decision.

All in all, this is a beautiful introduction to Norm Macdonald's talents and I highly suggest its viewing.

It rates a 7.3/10 from...

the Fiend :.

I only discovered Norm a few days ago, I'm not sure he's really known in the UK?

But in that time I've watched a lot of the old clips on YouTube and think he's brilliant.

An intelligent comic, who's genuinely funny.

This film had several laugh out loud moments.

Yes it is silly and pointless, but not everything needs to have a point 😎

Though "Dirty Work" is outrageously low-brow, what makes it work is that it's purely ridiculous, and knows it ridiculous. The problem with most stupid comedies is they try to go for legitimate laughs, and simply come off as ridiculous. Anyone who's familiar with Norm MacDonald's brand of humor shouldn't be surprised. If you hate the guy, you probably won't like this movie, as he did co-write the script as well as being the star. So if you're a Norm-hater, you can stop reading this now.

This is one of those movies where no matter how many times I watch it, I'm still able to crack up at the same stupid jokes. There's a ton of lines that I love to quote from the movie. One of those hilarious lines occurs during the "dead hooker" scene. Norm says, "I've never seen so many dead hookers in my life," and a creepy guy in the crowd comments, "Lord knows I have." The Saigon whore line is also hilarious: "And there's the Saigon whore...that bit my nose off! Aaaahhhh!" In the movie, the late and great Chris Farley plays a guy...who got his nose bitten off by a Saigon whore. I know. Pretty self-explanatory. Farley doesn't play a huge role, but he steals the show every minute he's on screen. And of course, there's Norm's great "Maybe you'll feel better after we have some dirty sex" line.

I like Norm MacDonald, because he says the most ridiculous things, but delivers them in almost a deadpan fashion. There are, of course, moments in the film that are just plain stupid. And seeing Rebecca Romijn with a beard is too disturbing for my taste. But the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this stupidly hilarious comedy that I hope becomes a cult classic someday. One thing's for sure: You will never see another movie containing a barfight with "The Pina Colada Song" playing on the jukebox.