DIRTY WORK
A Film Review by Brian Takeshita
Rating: **1/2 out of ****
Bob Saget's DIRTY WORK is no masterpiece of filmmaking, but it kept me laughing at a rate more constant than anything I've seen lately. Some of the jokes had me nearly doubled over while others merely provoked chuckles, but they kept coming one after the other.
The film is about Mitch (Norm Macdonald) and Sam (Artie Lange), two childhood friends who have always had a particular knack for getting even with those who've crossed them. "Don't take any crap from anybody" is their motto. In grade school they framed the school bully by hiding guns in his desk. In high school they got back at the ticket-happy meter maid by stuffing her car engine with popcorn. Now all grown up, but still not mature, reality hits them in the face when Sam's father, Pops (Jack Warden), suffers a heart attack and is put in the hospital. The hospital's Dr. Farthing (Chevy Chase) tells the boys that Pops will die unless he gets a heart transplant, but due to Pops's old age, he's not a priority on the donor list. However, Dr. Farthing is deeply in debt to some bookies due to a history of failed wagers including a bet on Mr. T to win in ROCKY III. If Mitch and Sam can come up with $50,000 in two weeks, the good doctor can pay off his debts and will make sure Pops gets his heart.
Jobless, Mitch and Sam try to think of ways to earn the money quickly. "We have to think of something no one has done before," says Mitch. "Like the guy who first thought of delivering pizza to people's houses. Or the guy who invented crack." After the employees of the local movie theater pay the boys to pull a prank on their sadistic boss (Don Rickles), Mitch and Sam decide to take their hobby to the next level and open a revenge-for-hire business.
Whether or not you will like this film is almost totally dependent upon whether or not you like Norm Macdonald. The former Saturday Night Live newscaster delivers his lines with a sarcastic tone that makes most of his humor of the one-joke variety, but for me it almost never fails. Then again, I also think Bob Saget is a funny guy. Please forgive me.
Although Macdonald's demeanor and delivery doesn't really make him a convincing actor, and he more or less stumbles his way from one scene to the next (like a comedian trying to star in a movie), the stuff he says is just hilarious. I mean, you've got to love a guy who tries to get away with saying this to his irate girlfriend: "Maybe you'll feel better after we have some dirty sex."
In going through the motions to make a movie rather than a series of sketches, the filmmakers added a plot involving a love interest (Traylor Howard) and an unscrupulous real estate mogul (Christopher McDonald). None of the storyline is standout, and you don't really ever get involved in the emotional aspects of the forced romance. There's no significant feel-good payoff in the end, and there's no real message conveyed, but DIRTY WORK seems to be more a showcase for Macdonald's comedic talent than anything else. In this respect, the movie clicks. DIRTY WORK doesn't aim very high to begin with, and ends up being right about where it wants to be. There's got to be something said about achieving your goals.
Review posted June 16, 1998
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