Joe Dirt

Joe Dirt (2001): Joe (David Spade) is a custodian at a Los Angeles radio station who can’t seem to catch a break. After a confrontation in the hallway with presumably other employees at the station, he is discovered by a producer, who immediately drags him into a radio talk show interview to tell his life story, and the misadventures in his quest to find his parents.

This looks awful, why bother? Joe Dirt is a rare type of film, it’s not technically a good film, and it’s not so bad it’s good. There is some sort of goofy charm to the whole film that sort of excuses the premise, and outrageous plot turns.

The way the events unfold follow a pattern, something good is given to Joe from a new character, then life brings something bad to him. What makes this a bit bothersome is that the good things are too convenient (very scripted, and silly). Even though this pattern goes on, we get jokes from these characters that help forget how unusual/silly the situation is, which makes even the one scene characters memorable by something as small as a quote.

The best thing about Joe Dirt, and the one thing that keeps this film from being just another bad Happy Madison film; the characters. Happy Madison used to be really good at creating unique characters, with a memorable quote, or scene for each one. Joe Dirt probably has the most (and best) group of characters in a Happy Madison production, which includes a hilarious role from Christopher Walken, and decent role from Kid Rock (nothing special, but not bad).

Is this film genuinely enjoyable? It is, Joe Dirt is far from a smart comedy, that can be a bit offensive at times, but in the end it’s a funny, quotable, and entertaining film. If you enjoy early Happy Madison or Broken Lizard's films, and somehow never got around to watching this, you’ll enjoy it (if not then you’ll probably have a bad time).