Redneck humor went out of fashion as soon as Jeff Foxworthy's albums hit the bargain bins in record stores. And while the public isn't exactly crying out for a resurrection in the field of white trash humor, "Joe Dirt" comes on strong and shows that mainstream, culturally challenged white males are here to stay.
The movie begins with less-than-well-manicured radio station janitor Joe Dirt (David Spade) being discovered by a shock jock (Dennis Miller) and going on his show to tell his story. When he's not being viciously insulted by the jerky DJ, Dirt weaves a wild tale of his life's quest to discover where his parents have gone since abandoning him at the Grand Canyon when he was only 8.
His adventures take him all over the country, and he gets both help and trouble from strange people everywhere he goes. He even gets kidnapped and held captive by serial killer "Buffalo Bob" (in a painfully funny yet less-than-tasteful "Silence of the Lambs" parody sequence). Buffalo Bob resembles a redneck Forrest Gump with his nonchalant, optimistic attitude in the face of outrageous events and people he accidentally encounters.
This film is destined for critical failure. But it's really not that bad. Underneath all the crude humor, cliches and perverse characters, "Joe Dirt" actually has a heart.
The most amazing thing about the film is that the normally ultra-cynical Spade can pull off such a fair, non-condescending portrayal of an unusual character. He actually makes Joe Dirt likable. Spade allows Dirt to be a swell fellow with a swell outlook on life. This is a role that easily could be played just for lame laughs, yet Spade actually evokes a fair degree of sympathy. To quote Dirt himself, "Life's a garden, dig it!"
The reason some people likely will hate "Joe Dirt" is because it isn't funny in the way one would expect. If you go in expecting to laugh at Dirt's stupidity, you definitely will be let down. The film laughs with him, not at him.
Dirt's optimism is pervasive and gives what could have been a crude, trashy film an uplifting edge that keeps it out of the gutter.
Which is not to say that the film doesn't make an honorable attempt to wallow in the gutter. It has an encyclopedic catalogue of vulgar gags involving dog testicles, erect male private parts, a "meteor" made of human waste product, flammable urination, animal sex and a septic tank. An "extended" gag involving a dog's scrotum goes just a teensy bit too far and is more disturbing than funny. "Joe Dirt" pushes the PG-13 rating to the outer limits, but its overall kind-heartedness keeps it from deserving an R.
A primary flaw in the film lies in its weak beginning. There are no big laughs in the first few minutes, although there surely is potential for them. This is disheartening, but "Joe Dirt" promptly picks up steam and becomes both engaging and, at times, downright hilarious. But a few of the more extensive jokes veer into stupidity and make the silence in the audience deafening when a joke or two falls flat.
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The supporting cast colors the film to varying degrees of effectiveness. Dennis Miller is erratic as the DJ who puts Dirt's story on the air. Sometimes he hits the funny bone dead on, but sometimes he grates harder than concrete on concrete.
Fortunately, Kid Rock, Fred Ward, Christopher Walken, Joe Don Baker and Rosanna Arquette are all great in their respective supporting roles. Seeing veteran character actor Fred Ward with a gigantic mullet haircut is worth the price of admission alone.
The special effects are unnecessarily spectacular. Large explosions, dream sequences and an oversized alligator seem to merely fill time in the movie more than anything else. The computer-generated imagery effects in the film are pretty crude, in more ways than one. They look rushed, but I believe "Joe Dirt" has the distinct honor of being the first film to ever use computer graphics technology to pull off a cow fart-lighting gag.
"Joe Dirt" is funny and entertaining despite its flaws. But beware: If you like this movie too much, you might be a redneck.
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