Joe Dirt (2001)

Fantastic!

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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

Simply put, Joe Dirt is the white trash equivalent of Forrest Gump. Joe Dirt is not a sophisticated, Oscar worthy film like Forrest Gump, but it is still an entertaining film. The plot draws you into the story. Joe Dirt (David Spade) is a gentle, kind hearted white trash man who has had a tough life. His parents abandoned him during a vacation to the Grand Canyon when he was only eight years old. Joe has spent his life trying to find his parents and his home. One day while working as a janitor at a Los Angeles radio station, Joe finds himself retelling his painful life story to the sarcastic and sleazy DJ Zander Kelly (Dennis Miller). Zander Kelly and his audience quickly become fascinated by Joe's life story. Joe becomes a media sensation. Joe Dirt, like Forrest Gump, is an unlikely hero. Despite all the obstacles Joe has faced in his life, he remains positive and refuses to let go of the hope of finding his long lost family. Basically the story comes down to this: goods things happen to good people, or as Joe puts it "you can't have no in your heart!"David Spade wrote the film with his long time friend Fred Wolf (who did some stuff for SNL, Tommy Boy and Black Sheep). Spade and Wolf were clearly meticulous in their writing. There aren't any significant continuity or plot errors. Each scene builds upon the last and builds up for the next scene. There is a lot of low-grade humor in the film, but there's also lots of physical/slapstick humor--remember this is a film starring, produced and written by SNL alumni.There is something about the plot that gets you involved in the story. This is the type of film you can put in your DVD player and lose yourself in the story for an hour and a half or however long the movie lasts. Joe Dirt is a lovable character, it's easy to empathize with him. I think this is a testament to the way Spade and Wolf wrote the script and the way Spade portrays the Joe Dirt character. Either way, Spade and Wolf did an excellent job writing this script. Spade plays a different character for this movie. If you're looking for the sarcastic, acerbic Spade character, you won't find it in this film. This time, he plays the nice lovable guy. Dennis Miller has the more stereotypical Spade character. Spade said he wrote Miller's character and based it upon what he would say if Joe Dirt was sitting in front of him. Kid Rock also appears in the film, he was good and funny! Joe Dirt didn't get rave reviews from big name film critics (this was an Adam Sandler/Happy Madison production and we all know Sandler flicks don't go over too well with the critics). I think was a rather underrated comedy. Joe Dirt is definitely worth watching! The reason why I gave this film such a high rating was partially because of the writing, portrayal of the characters, and simply because I like David Spade and Adam Sandler.

Joe Dirt (2001)5 word summaryWhite trash searches for parentsKind of a hard movie to rate, because it really isn't that good but I do enjoy it. It's a dumb adventure comedy but it is funny. David Spade isn't a great actor but he as comedic actions. Much like other of his movies (Tommy Boy, Dickie Roberts, Benchwarmers, Black Sheep) his performance isn't believable or well done but its usually funny enough to look past. It has some fun cameos and decent supporting cast, and some pretty hilarious lines and scenes. Christopher Walken was hilarious and almost more memorable than David Spade. It stays pretty constant all the way through, it has a bit of a drop off towards the end but other than that. So if you start watching it and after 15 minutes you don't think its funny, I think its safe to say you can turn it off, cause it's the same kind of comedy the whole way. If you are a fan of David Spades work this is a decent one that you will most likely enjoy this. The comedy and style of Joe Dirt is closer to that of Benchwarmers and Dickie Roberts than Tommy Boy and Black Sheep.

Joe Dirt - is not meant to be compared to movies like Schindler's list,Empire of the Sun,or The Shawshank redemption. It isn't fair to rate this movie a 2-4 because you rate those kinds of movies an 8-10. Movies should be rated in comparison with other movies in the same genre, and Joe Dirt is far and away, one of the best movies in its genre. If you don't like slapstick comedy type films, this isn't for you. However, the story line of Joe Dirt is far better than most slapstick comedy films.I'm not going to describe the story at all, as the other 184 people who commented already did that. What I will tell you, is that before I saw this movie, I disliked David Spade. I didn't find most of his smug, pretentious characters funny. Joe Dirt Single-handedly made me love David Spade. The story is great, the comedy is great, the scenery is great, the soundtrack is great; there really isn't anything to dislike about this film, and it's one of my favorites. 9/10 in its genre."It puts the Joe Dirt in the hole"