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It’s bad enough that Bob Saget's directorial debut brings back memories of the mid-'80s comedic styling of the Police Academy series, films that feature fat guys in tight stretch shirts who can't get porked and horny old men in hospital gowns chasing nurses. But did it have to star Norm Macdonald? Hasn't he been punished enough? Best known for Saturday Night Live--where he did impressions of David Letterman, Bob Dole and Burt Reynolds and anchored "Weekend Update"--Macdonald has run into trouble lately. During a recent stand-up routine, the apparently drunk comic was booed by the crowd. Macdonald told the audience to fuck off; SNL fired him soon after. For a time, NBC even refused to run the preview ads for Dirty Work. The idiotic film deserves the shunning. The only watchable moments focus on Macdonald alone. His arguable gift is his ability to simultaneously be obvious and obscure, normal and psychopathic, clever and remarkably stupid. He is funny after the fact. But not this film. Macdonald plays Mitch Weaver, a 30-ish man whose tubby best pal Sam (Artie Lange) still lives with Pops (Jack Warden). After Pops has a heart attack, and oh so humorously reveals that he is Mitch's real father (the horny old man displays a locket with a picture of Mitch's mother and him having sex), the intrepid slackers are plagued with a dilemma. Pops needs a heart transplant, but he is last in line for a donation. If the two stooges agree to get Pops' doctor (Chevy Chase) $50,000 to pay off his bookie, Pops' life could be saved. So they begin a revenge-for-hire business. They put hookers in the trunks of a slimy auto dealer's cars while he films a live commercial. They help a circus midget get back at the bearded lady by shaving off her beard. With cameos that include Chris Farley as a man who got his nose bitten off by a Saigon whore, Adam Sandler as Satan and Gary Coleman as himself ("What you talkin' about, Satan?"), the film is a tedious mess. The only funny moment is when Farley accidentally chooses "The Piña Colada Song" on the jukebox to accompany a barroom brawl. But even that isn't much to enjoy--the now-deceased Farley's presence is almost as depressing as that of Chevy Chase, who may as well be dead. Then there's Macdonald. Wearing blusher and eye makeup and sporting hideous hair, the comedian has little appeal, even physically. He relies on homo and whore jokes so trite that they aren't even offensively funny, and his chemistry with his love interest is nonexistent. But what should we expect? The film was directed by a man whose background includes playing the nerdy dad to the demonic Olsen twins on Full House and hosting America's Funniest Home Videos, the series that caused millions to force their babies to fall out of highchairs and bonk their heads. In memory of fellow Canadians John Candy and Phil Hartman, Macdonald should find a better project, expand his talent and stay away from Saget! Let someone else do the dirty work. |
