Too much of everything

The Worst Film Ever

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

"Joe Dirt" offers a lot of laughs, which is the raison d'être of any comedy. And there are many different types of humor: sight gags, 1-2-3 punches, pratfalls, ridicule, absurdities, etc. Some of the humor is broad, raunchy, burlesque and low-brow, but other humor is fairly sophisticated. Some jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, while others are subtle. On a jokes per minute scale, the film ranks among the top. The film has significant and substantial problems. It is difficult to decide which is worse: the title, the cover/poster art, or log lines like "He came. He cleaned. He conquered," or "Trailer trash wig-wearin' acid wash jean lovin' rock concert T-shirt sportin' hero." None really describes a movie that I would have expected to find particularly interesting and I made no effort to view the movie until fourteen years after its theatrical release, although I can remember seeing it at video shops and had several opportunities when I was at a loss for something amusing to view. The film is somewhat a parody of "Forrest Gump," which is also a title that says little about the movie's subject matter, unless one is familiar with the book. But the FG producers were somewhat limited by the book's title, whereas the producers of JD could have been more imaginative and incorporated a superlative, an action verb or a recognizable archetype. The promotional artwork relied heavily on an image of a guy holding a mop. People who mop fill a necessary function, but they're usually relegated to after hours when they present less of a nuisance and distraction. In Bangkok, it's impossible to get through a day without encountering about a dozen people sweeping or mopping. Thais sweep and mop everything at all hours of the day and night and still leave their shoes at the entrance. But the reaction is usually to avoid the individual, not take an interest in what or why they are pushing broom. The promo lines fall somewhere between misleading and uninformative. Joe doesn't really conquer. Everybody loves jeans. The wig is a recurring gag that doesn't work or would be much more effective if the hair were natural. It's a bit gross and makes no sense that an adult would wear the same wig worn as a child. JD shines a mirror on the rest of society and holds us up to ridicule for our prejudices, assumptions and tendencies to judge others by superficial standards. These societal prejudices are personified by a radio shock jock played by Dennis Miller who delivers a series of zingers that seem less and less funny as the audience develops sympathy for Joe. Lampooning the audience is a risky form of humor and JD does it adroitly. The viewer is placed in the uncomfortable position of recognizing ones own biases. The movie offers quite a few talented actors in supporting roles that they embrace and play to the hilt. Production values are more than adequate with a refreshing lack of jiggly-cam shots. It's really nice to watch a movie where the filmmakers have enough respect for their audience to plan their shots and use tripods or other support systems for their cameras.

This is a cleverly written movie by Spade and an associate. Its funny and well directed. Oh sure as in any comedy there are jokes that miss but its only a few in Joe Dirt and the majority hit. I swore I would have nothing to do with Sandler movies but he's only an Exec Producer which means he invested some cash into the making of the movie and thankfully didn't write, direct or even appear. Thats the best I can say about this picture and what makes it worth an 8 and worth seeing. On the whole its funny and doesn't demand anything from its audience. BTW Brittany Daniel is another reason to see this movie for the guys, she is SUPER HOT!

Joe Dirt (2001): Dir: Dennie Gordon / Cast: David Spade, Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken, Rosanna Arquette, Kid Rock: Joe Dirt proudly wheels a meteor down the street on a wagon. While eating his lunch on top of it, he makes ownership promises unaware that his suppose discovery is a large chunk of toilet waste. He is a white trash janitor abandoned by his parents and tells his story via radio. Director Dennie Gordon shows little promise as one idiotic scene follows another. Joe eventually finds his parents and discovers that they knew what viewers were aware of from the get go. David Spade is totally unsympathetic. Joe Dirt is even dumber than the poop scooping moron he played in Lost and Found. As a radio personality Dennis Miller appears anxious for Spade to say something remotely intelligent. Christopher Walken has the thankless role as a janitor in hiding. He should go into hiding after agreeing to be part of this junk. Rosanna Arquette appears at an alligator farm. Crude moments include dog testicles frozen to a patio. Kid Rock puts down his guitar to give us perhaps his biggest career blunder in appearing in what comes off as a really bad joke at his expense. Spade gets drenched in sewage, which is exactly where the film should be. Finally we are given a sex scene where he screams out, "Sister!" While locations are innovative, the witless screenplay lurks in the gutter. Better yet, dirt. Score: 1 / 10

I remember during my high school years, which ended just a few years ago, there was a classroom in the school with several movie posters up on the wall for some reason, and one of them was a "Joe Dirt" poster. That was how I first knew of this 2001 comedy's existence, a couple years after its release, but it would be years before I would actually see it. "Weird Al" Yankovic's song, "Close but No Cigar" was released in 2006, on his "Straight Outta Lynwood" album. The song is sung at the point of view of a guy who has been through three romantic relationships, all of which ended when he found the slightest excuse to break up with each of these women, and he dumped one of them when he discovered she owned a copy of "Joe Dirt" on DVD. However, even that reference didn't make me really want to check the movie out right away. It's been nearly four years since the release of that song, and about seven and a half years since I first saw that poster, but I've finally seen the movie. I saw "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star", another comedy starring David Spade, earlier this year, and unlike that film, I did find some laughs in this one, but still didn't think it was very good.Joe Dirt is a hapless idiot who currently works as a janitor for a Los Angeles radio station and lives in a studio boiler room. Dirt is the surname his father gave him, and he cannot remember what his real surname was. His mullet is a wig that is stuck on his head, and the mullet haircut has long since gone out of style, but he can't get rid of his. Zander Kelly is a shock jock who has a show on this L.A. station, and Joe is sent in to talk on this show so people can laugh at his expense. On this radio show, Joe begins to tell his life story to Zander and all the listeners tuned in to the station, and viewers of the movie see it in flashback. When Joe was eight years old, he went on a tour of the Grand Canyon with his parents and was somehow separated from them. He hasn't seen his parents since losing them on that trip, and still doesn't know what happened to them. After being raised in several different strange foster homes, he came to the town of Silvertown, Idaho as a young man, where he met a young woman named Brandy and fell in love. Unfortunately, he also had to face a bully there named Robby, who was also intent on winning Brandy's heart, and did not appreciate Joe's presence. After Brandy's dog was shot and killed by her drunk father, Joe felt the need to leave Silvertown and search for his long lost parents. Even though Zander continues to make fun of him, Joe tells the story of his search for his parents and his adventures along the way.When it comes to the gags here, there certainly are some highlights, such as Joe Dirt finding out what the "meteor" he found actually is, and the lead character using what he thinks is an atomic bomb to scare the Grand Canyon tour bus company into giving him the list of passengers from the day he lost his parents. There were times when I laughed thoroughly and other times when I laughed very lightly or maybe just smiled. However, there are also some memorably unfunny parts, such as certain scenes showing Joe being bullied. These include more than one scene with Robby, played by musician Kid Rock, and also the way Zander Kelly, played by Dennis Miller, picks on Joe while on the air. I also found the part where Joe finds the dog with his testicles frozen to the porch a little uncomfortable, even if I didn't keep a straight face throughout that sequence. I didn't care much for the part where what Joe thinks is an atomic bomb turns out to be a septic tank and pours sewage all over him, though I did find the fact that the police didn't arrest him because they thought that was punishment enough fairly amusing. Other parts I didn't find very funny include the Buffalo Bob/skin lotion one and Joe getting food thrown at him in a school cafeteria. So, there are a number of funny parts in the movie, probably more than I originally expected, but there are also some fairly lame ones, and the humour is just mediocre for much of the film's ninety minute run. There were times when I felt like I would be giving this 2001 Happy Madison production a 6/10, but by the end, I decided I couldn't do that. Yes, there are some funny parts and likable characters, plus there certainly are fairly touching moments towards the end, but if they had done a much better job with the humour, "Joe Dirt" would have turned out to be a much more entertaining movie.