Grime and Punishment

For those of you that find mullets funny, then you are guaranteed at least one laugh in David Spade’s newest comedy, Joe Dirt. Unfortunately, one laugh may be all you get, since it’s all downhill from there for this ridiculous tale of a hero arising from the depths of trailer trash.

In his feature film debut, director Dennie Gordon has Spade (Tommy Boy, Lost & Found) playing Joe Dirt, a “wig wearin’, acid wash jean lovin’, rock concert T-shirt sportin’ hero.” Lost by his parents at the Grand Canyon, Dirt and his mullet have been on their own since he was eight. Never abandoning his lifelong goal of finding his family, the adult Dirt fends for himself by working as a janitor in a Los Angeles radio station. Constantly derided for his blatant white trashiness, the station’s producers can’t help but noticing the hapless Joe, and soon bring him on the air as fodder for the sardonic wit of shock-jock Zander Kelly (Dennis Miller, essentially playing himself). Kelly relishes in ridiculing Joe, but through his questioning, Dirt’s sad life story is revealed.

Ironically, Joe’s pathetic tale endears him to Kelly’s radio audience, and as the mockery turns to empathy, Joe’s down-to-earth goodness makes him a sort of a national champion, a tragic hero of the trailer class. His newfound fame quickly propels him into a variety of adventures, as he continues to search for his parents (oddly, Dirt never thinks to search for his sister, who has also been separated from him since he was eight).

Along the way, Dirt suffers through numerous mishaps, mostly situations set up solely for the purposed of forcing an easy laugh; he is caught in a molar-shaped hot air balloon, seduced by a trailer trash temptress played by Jaime Pressly (Tomcats, Jerry Springer: Ringmaster) at a carnival, swung like a doll in the jaws of an enormous crocodile and finds himself on the losing end of multiple encounters with human excrement.

Dirt’s romantic interest in the film is the lovely Brandy (Brittany Daniel), who likes him for no reason other than the fact that he freed her dog’s genitalia when it was frozen to a porch. In his acting debut, Kid Rock plays Robby, Joe’s competition for Brandy. Rock’s character is much like his rock & roll personality—badass white trash—and consequently he does a notably good job in the film. A high school janitor in the witness protection relocation program, played by Christopher Walken, and a Native American fireworks salesman also help Dirt during his quest.

Although extremely funny as the sidekick of the late Chris Farley in Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, Spade’s post-Farley attempts to step in the lead have exposed his limited acting capacities. Joe Dirt is no exception. Spade simply cannot pull off the lovable, upbeat, misfortunate hero; his deadpan acting style fails to elicit any sympathy or emotional involvement whatsoever. The audience is more mystified by how Brandy could possibly be attracted to this dope than to whether or not he actually gets the girl. Furthermore, a romantic theme involving the moon is directly copied from the animated classic An American Tail, and fails to garner the expected emotional response. His escapades have nothing to do with each other, and while some of the physical comedy is amusing, much of the movie is in search of cheap laughs.

Unsurprisingly, most of the other characters are banal or stereotypical, either mocking Dirt or sympathizing with his poor lot in life. Daniel’s and Pressly’s acting performances are poor, as they are confined to portraying blonde babes with inexplicable interests in Joe. The notable exception is Walken’s broom-pushing Clem. Walken, with his unique acting style, gives a brilliant performance in his unfortunately limited screen time. His character has trouble hiding his New York accent and flubs certain details of his suppposedly protected new identity during the best scenes of the movie.

Joe Dirt is nothing but a derivative physical comedy. It pushes the envelope for gross-out scenes but fails to replicate the genius and hilarity of There’s Something About Mary. It has numerous crashes, punches and explosions, but they aren’t as funny as one scene involving Chris Farley. It tries to make the audience love a bumbling loser, but lacks the charm of Tommy Boy. The film blatantly steals a whole scene from Silence of the Lambs—a travesty to the latter—and its constant barrage of overused redneck and gay jokes hardly exudes any originality. Besides Walken’s performance, the only other saving grace is the film’s excellent soundtrack, buoyed by great classic rock tunes from bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bob Seger.

One interesting though unintended critique that can be taken from Joe Dirt is an implicit judgment on over-aggressive media and the popular voyeurism in TV shows today. Joe’s personal life is broadcast to millions, his burgeoning fame encourages cameras to violate any semblance of privacy. Additionally, others begin to use Joe for his newfound fame.

This hackneyed film is not worth seeing in the theaters, perhaps not even worth renting. One of Joe Dirt’s favorite mottoes is “Life’s a garden, dig it.” I suggest you dig a deep hole, dump Joe Dirt inside and bury it.

Joe Dirt

directed by Dennie Gordon

starring David Spade, Christopher Walken, Dennis Miller

Columbia Pictures