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The Movie: Either you like David Spade or you hate him - there's really no in-between for the sarcastic comic. I have to say that I've always been firmly on the positive side, seeing his films and often tuning in for Spade's sitcom, which was just re-newed for another two years. After watching "Joe Dirt", I have to say though that Spade should be pleased that his sitcom is going to contiue because "Joe Dirt" isn't going to bring him any new success for his film career. Spade plays Joe Dirt, a janitor who works at a local radio station and calls the boiler room home. One morning, he's brought into the main radio show on the sation, with the host played by none other than Dennis Miller, who proceeds to consistently make fun of the trashy, hilariously dressed young man sitting before him. Yet, when Joe tells the story of his search for his long lost parents (they left him at the Grand Canyon at the age of 8), the audience suddenly gathers around the radio to listen, fascinated. He's even asked back to continue the tale of Joe, as he goes across the country. The main element of the film though, is Joe's relationship with Brandy(Britany Daniel) and the fighting with Robby (Kid Rock) over the girl. As Joe goes across country, he can't help but miss her (and with a girl who looks like her, who wouldn't miss her). But, anyways, this allows us to watch Joe have some other moderately funny adventures as he meets new friends such as an man who only sells sparklers at his roadside fireworks stand (joe asks why he doesn't sell "the good stuff", as he rattles off a list of fireworks), a relationship with a girl who might be Joe's sister(Jamie Pressley) and a janitor(Christopher Walken, in a very funny performance) with a secret. Anyways, with a movie like "Joe Dirt", the name of the game is whether or not the film is actually funny. With Spade's sarcasm-meter turned up to 11, much of the early part of the film does actually contain a few decent laughs. It's towards the end of the film where it actually tries to become emotional that it becomes embarassing. Spade isn't bad - he makes Dirt at least somewhat sympathetic as the character wants to succeed against all odds - but that doesn't mean that he's allowed to be all-out Spade as his nastiest, which is also Spade at his most hilarious (see the recent animated feature "Emperor's New Groove", which was Spade at his Spade-iest). The one comment that actually may scare some is that this film actually didn't contain as many laughs for me as Spade's previous feature, "Lost and Found", which was a complete failure at the box office. "Dirt" isn't unwatchable - it's one of those films that simply coasts along, and before you know it, it's over, not leaving much of anything memorable. The animated "New Groove" may be Spade's most entertaining screen performance yet - whether he'll ever find a solid live-action project of his own remains to be seen. |