On Wednesday, April 11, Columbia Pictures released its latest comedy, Joe Dirt. The film stars David Spade, Brittany Daniel, Dennis Miller, Kid Rock, Christopher Walken, Adam Beach, and is directed by Dennie Gordan.
Spade (Lost and Found, Just Shoot Me, Saturday Night Live), known for his sarcastic-sidekick roles in such Chris Farley movies as Tommy Boy and Black Sheep, holds his own in this new version of an old plot: loveable loser on a mission gets beautiful girl and becomes hero. There won’t be any Oscars given out for this movie, but it sure does bring on a laugh or two. What else would you expect from the guys (including Adam Sandler) that brought you Deuce Bigalow.
Spade plays the part of Joe Dirt, a white trash, mullet-wig wearing, 80’s rock group t-shirt sporting loser that everyone loves to pick on. Dirt is a janitor at 98.6 KXLA, a radio station in Los Angeles, who is only working so that he can continue his search for his parents, whom he hasn’t seen since they "accidentally" left him at the Grand Canyon when he was eight years old. Zander Kelly, played by Dennis Miller, is a talk show host at the station who brings Dirt on his show for laughs, but takes an interest in Dirt’s unusual adventures.
The humor from Spade takes a while to surface, mostly because Dirt is the butt of most of the jokes from the beginning. Miller was well cast for the part of Zander Kelly, who is great at just insulting people for a living on the radio.
As Dirt tells his story, the movie goes from L.A. to just about everywhere in America. It works though, because the adventures of Joe Dirt are hilarious.
Along the way, the audience meets Brandi (played by the beautiful Brittany Daniel), who is Dirt’s only true friend, and her dog Charlie. Kid Rock makes his film debut as Robbie--a redneck, 80's Pontiac Firebird driving bully who is jealous of Joe Dirt’s relationship with Brandi.
There are other interesting characters that appear in the film as well. Adam Beach plays the role of an American Indian who sells fireworks and becomes Dirt’s friend. Christopher Walkens is Clem, a high school janitor in the witness protection program who also befriends Dirt. Jaime Pressly also makes an appearance as one of Dirt’s love interests.
If you like 80’s rock music and white trash humor, then this film is a good choice. If you aren’t sure about this one yet, the soundtrack might push you over. The scenes change frequently, and a classic rock hit seems to introduce every new scene. Some of the artists featured are: Lynard Skynard, 38 Special, Reo Speedwagon, Eddie Money, The Doobie Brothers and even The Dave Matthews Band. Surprisingly, I don’t recall any songs in the movie by Kid Rock, even though he acted in it.
Joe Dirt is rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor and language.
