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Original title: Dirty Work

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

32K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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Dark Comedy Slapstick Comedy

A loser finds success in the revenge-for-hire business.A loser finds success in the revenge-for-hire business.A loser finds success in the revenge-for-hire business.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

32K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,919

1,422

See production info at IMDbPro

Featured reviews

7rob-236

Guaranteed to make you chuckle

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.

8ccthemovieman-1

Now They've Made Revenge Funny

None of the three young stars of this film - Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange or Traylor Howard - ever became movie stars but they combined to make this a funny film, albeit what I call a lame-brain (somewhat low-class but effective humor) one.

This is not an untypical comedy of today: tons of sleazy jokes, sightgags, a lightweight romance story, a generally stupid story and a happy ending.....yet this one was far more appealing than most I've seen. Although the language could be worse, why this isn't rated "R" is beyond me. It is not for teens but I'll bet many of them watched and enjoyed this, as well as older people like me.

MacDonald is a very likable guy in the lead. He just has a friendly face and demeanor about him. He makes the film. Lange was a bit loud. I'm glad the film wasn't longer because Lange's constant shouting begins to become grating. As for Traylor, she acted well and was a pretty face. After watching this twice, I wondered why she never made it, but at least she has now found TV fame as the new partner of the hit TV series, "Monk."

Two veterans actors in here - Jack Warden and Chevy Chase - play irreverent sleazy roles, something they certainly have done before.....and do well. Warden is brutal as the ultimate dirty old man and Chase is as smug as always. Don Rickles makes a short appearances as his normal obnoxious character and John Goodman makes a cameo near the end.

The main story of this movie is a familiar one: revenge, but this time it is played strictly for laughs, and there are plenty. The movie shows revenge isn't just sweet, it can funny. What can you say? The movie is crude, it's sentimental, and it's a fun 82 minutes.

6BlazingBolt

R.I.P Norm Macdonald

This movie is dumb. Don't get me wrong. The plot and premise are awful but this movie is amazingly funny. Norm Macdonald delivers a great performance only he could. His comedy is sometimes too edgy for some but he believed nothing was off limits and he never backed down! I thought he was an amazing comedian someone the likes of George Carlin. You'll be missed Norm. Rest in piece!

8nytol1-798-466578

They don't make them like this anymore.

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 😎

squir1y

Norm is hilarious and so is this movie.

I've always been a big fan of Norm MacDonald and so when I heard about this movie I was happy to see he had his own movie, but I was a little pessimistic because there hadn't been one good SNL alumni movie since Wayne's World. But when I saw it I wasn't disappointed.

Mitch (MacDonald) is a loser who just lost his job, his girlfriend, just learned his best friend's father is also his and he takes crap from everybody. So when him and his best friend Sam (Artie Lange) look for jobs they discover their calling: to open a revenge for hire business. Their business turns out to be successful until a greedy rich guy wants revenge for a prank they played on him.

Norm was hilarious. I like how straightforward he is with his lines("Settle down prostitutes!";"Hey, homeless guys!"). Artie Lange and Jack Warden were also very funny. Chris Farley and Adam Sandler make funny appearances too. The dead hooker in the trunk and the gay dog gags were priceless.

Ignore the critics. Check this out. 9/10

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Artie Lange was wary of working with Chevy Chase after having heard many stories from friends and colleagues about Chase's nastiness, but in his book "Too Fat to Fish", Lange recounted that he loved working with Chase and they became good friends. Lange also recounted that Chase warned him that MGM would force them to make the film PG-13 rated for release even though it was written and filmed as an R-rated film, and told him to fight that move. Lange, Norm MacDonald, and the rest of the cast and crew did fight for the R, but the studio ultimately refused because they said that there was not a large audience for R-rated comedies at that point; as Lange sadly noted in his book, "Dirty Work" was ultimately moved to an earlier release date in part to stay clear of Mary à tout prix (1998), which was not only an R-rated comedy, but became one of 1998's biggest blockbusters and revived the entire R-rated comedy genre for years to come.

Goofs
When Mitch and Sam leave jail and Mitch addresses his cell mates, his lips can clearly be seen to say "anal rape," but this is overdubbed with the words "the other thing."

Quotes
Mitch: [to men who just raped him] You fellas have a lot of growing up to do, I'll tell you that. Ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. Can you believe these characters? Way out of line. Way out of line. Have a good mind to go to the warden about this. You know what hurts the most is the... the lack of respect. You know? That's what hurts the most. Except for the... Except for the other thing. That hurts the most. But the lack of respect hurts the second most.

Crazy credits
Funny outtakes from the filming play during the first half of the credits.

Alternate versions
The "Dirtier Cut" was assembled from the original film negative found in the MGM vaults by archivist Oscar Becher and restoration expert Kurtis Spieler using a workprint tape as reference. It was released by Vinegar Syndrome in 2025 on Blu-ray and 4K. This was original cut of the film (intended for an R-rating) before it was edited down to achieve a PG-13 rating. Although the runtime is only longer two minutes than the theatrical cut, there are more than 7 minutes of alternate footage between the two versions. The PG-13 cut substituted tamer versions of the same jokes or replaced footage with alternate content.
The bearded lady only appears in the theatrical version.
Near the beginning when Mitch is reminiscing about his younger years, a high school aged Mitch parks in one of the football players spots, gets confronted and both him and Sam get thrown in a dumpster. Later, several members of the football team finds a box of donuts on the hood of one of their cars and they begin to eat them. As they're eating them, one of them finds a Polaroid at the bottom of the box of Mitch and Sam naked with the donuts stacked on their erect genitals. The football players as well as the cheerleaders spit these donuts out, except for one cheerleader who keeps staring at the Polaroid.
When Pops is watching a lesbian porn film (only heard, not seen), Pops silences Mitch and Sam by exclaiming, "Pipe down! I'm tryin' to watch these broads dyke-out!". In the PG-13 version, the porn film is replaced by an Aerobicise (1980) video with Pops' remark instead being dubbed to "I'm tryin' to watch these broads work out!"
A scene where Pops brags about having worked as "a stunt cock in stag films".
Mitch and Sam work as a gay phone sex operators during their job hunts to make quick cash.
In the jail cell, Mitch tells Sam he's scared of "anal rape" in prison, instead of whispering something unknown into Sam's ear. Before the two of them are released from jail, Mitch eventually says the line "except for the anal rape", which was dubbed over as "except for the other thing" in the theatrical cut.
The "blow up doll" and "ass cream" notes-to-self were different in the R-rated cut. They were, "Note to self: Find out if other guy's penises are the same length erect as they are flaccid" and "Note to self: Shitting pants is unpleasant, even with adult diaper."
Towards the end of the movie, the fraternity that kept bullying Mitch and Sam are seen eating donuts. The same prank from the beginning of the film involving the football team and cheerleaders is done here, except with a present day Mitch and Sam in the Polaroid.

Connections
Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Pranks (2014)

Soundtracks
Semi-Charmed Life
Written by Stephan Jenkins (as Stephen Jenkins)
Performed by Third Eye Blind
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By arrangement with Warner Special Products