Joe Dirt

"Look at that guy. He must be retarded," remarks one character after he gets a look at Joe Dirt (David Spade). And though the last time I heard such language was during school recess, it's basically accurate. Dirt was born with a bit of his brain sticking out of his head, and a mullet-styled wig and Spade's tendency to slip into his wise-ass self can't salvage this pathetic and unfunny hero.

Spade, who co-wrote the screenplay, and director Dennie Gordon nonetheless strive to create something of a "white trash" Odyssey. In a Los Angeles radio studio, Dirt tells a shock jock (Dennis Miller) of his decade-long hunt for his parents, who abandoned him at the Grand Canyon. We watch in flashbacks as Dirt's journey takes him through the non-postcard version of America: a sweet old lady who gruesomely murdered her husband; a Native American selling lousy firecrackers along a dusty road; a creepy man (Christopher Walken) in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Descending into these dark places could have been a bold move for Spade. But he wimps out, settling for jokes that simply disgust from the imbecilic Dirt and a supporting cast of one-note characters (played by the likes of Kid Rock, Brittany Daniel, and Jaime Pressly), plus the obvious sappy resolution that's tacked onto every stupid comedy these days to give the illusion that a real story has been told. At the Apple Valley, Flagship, Hoyts Providence 16, Showcase, Swansea, and Tri-Boro cinemas.
-- Mark Bazer