Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf October 17, 2015

With the one-two punch of “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore,” Adam Sandler created his own subgenre of dumb guy comedies, filled with absurdities, grotesqueries, and non-acting. Spreading the love, Sandler brought in comedian friends and “Saturday Night Live” co-stars to help populate the productions, even extending star vehicles to a chosen few. 1998’s “Dirty Work” was intended to bring big screen glory to star Norm Macdonald, fitting his specialized sense of humor for multiplex distribution, saddling the untamable comic with a plot that demanded a little more than expertly timed wisecracks. Audiences weren’t interested in Macdonald or “Dirty Work” during its initial theatrical release; The Sandler Effect didn’t come through. However, what’s here isn’t immediately dismissible, and while the feature contains all sorts of unpleasant material, it’s actually quite entertaining and periodically hilarious. It’s barely an effort from director Bob Saget, but the movie has its moments if expectations are brought down as low as humanly possible.

Growing up a bullied child with pal Sam (Artie Lange), Mitch (Norm Macdonald) has always dreamed to getting revenge, finally taking mischief into his own hands to publically humiliate his enemies. Fired from a crappy job and dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch is left with nothing, though matters get worse when Sam’s father, Pops (Jack Warden), has a heart attack. Needing $50,000 to pay for a heart transplant performed by Dr. Farthing (Chevy Chase), a gambling addict, Mitch and Sam look for a quick way to raise an enormous amount of cash. Playing to their strengths, the guys open their own revenge store, carrying out despicable acts of retribution for a reasonable fee. Making a name for themselves as they manage every oddball request, Mitch and Sam attract the attention of ruthless property developer Travis (Christopher Macdonald), who’s out to trick the duo into ruining the lives of innocent people for his own financial gain.

Norm Macdonald isn’t an actor, showing more comfort telling jokes instead of inhabiting them. “Dirty Work” gives Macdonald a chance to show off his range, gifted a cinematic playground of his own after supporting turns in “Billy Madison” and “The People vs. Larry Flynt.” However, to cushion the enterprise, the screenplay caters to Macdonald’s sense of humor, identified early in the movie when Mitch stops himself every now and then to record his thoughts on tape, leaving a “note to self” message to provide necessary reminders on life. The bit, a silly Macdonald staple from his “SNL” days, identifies what type of effort “Dirty Work is going to be, with Saget (making his feature film debut as a director) more of a manager of tomfoolery than a dramatic guide, doing whatever he can to make Macdonald (and Lange) appealing as actors while tending to a paper-thin plot concerning Mitch’s business and Travis’s evil manipulations.

“Dirty Work” is an updated take on Abbott & Costello-style shenanigans, with Lange and Macdonald trying to pull off a comedy team presence as their characters generate disasters everywhere they go, some of them even intentional. Obviously, your mileage may vary with this style of stupidity, which is heavily influenced by the Sandler Formula, even welcoming a cameo from the once-lovable man-child, who appears as the Devil in a hallucination sequence. “Dirty Work” doesn’t break any new ground, moving forward as a series of shenanigans concocted by Mitch and Sam as they get their revenge business up and running. The production offers bright colors and a ‘90’s-approved soundtrack (why yes, “Tubthumping” is included here), while the script cooks up scenarios such as the guys disrupting a live auto dealer commercial with car trunks full of hookers playing dead, or filling a noisy neighbor’s house with hidden fish (before learning what horrible business the dwelling is actually used for). “Dirty Work” is incredibly cartoonish but never mean-spirited, having fun depicting Mitch’s loser ways, where he’s often tossed out of buildings face first, and playing up his general disregard for others. The writing attempts to soften the character and play up formula with a love interest (played by Traylor Howard), and the production eventually finds something resembling a plot (the test results aren’t back yet), but the highlights of the feature are found in tiny, weird moments of non-sequitur humor and Macdonald-isms, who isn’t a leading man, but has a Jedi-like way with a punchline.

“Dirty Work” also benefits from a varied supporting cast and series of cameos, watching Don Rickles destroy as a movie theater manager berating his new crew. It’s a simple moment, but a classic Rickles-style assault of put-downs. In his final film role, Chris Farley brings loudness to the effort as Mitch’s pal -- a loser who lost the tip of his nose to the angry teeth of a Saigon prostitute. Farley is amusing as a hot-tempered bar fly, though the role only plays directly to his established comedic personality.

Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.86:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "Dirty Work" is mostly appealing, though filtering is present, diluting the filmic presence of the feature. Colors are the big draw here, offering explosive primaries that give the picture the look of children's television show, finding hues most powerful with costuming and paint jobs, while skintones are natural. Detail is intact overall with some degree of softeness, presenting welcome textures on facial particulars and prank destruction. Delineation encounters a modest amount of solidification from time to time, but this is brightly lit work, rarely staging shadowed encounters. Source offers speckling and occasional debris.

Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix takes care of the feature's straightforward execution, with emphasis on dialogue exchanges, which handle with ideal weight and separation, preserving comedic speeds and a comfortable range. Surrounds aren't a priority, but the track provides a few surges of excitement, a few taking full advantage of a circular soundscape, with panning effects and little details enjoyable. Scoring is supportive but unremarkable, sharing encouraging instrumentation with soundtrack selections, which add some low-end heft to the listening experience. Atmospherics are professional, great with group activity and hospital visits.

Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Trailer (1:26, HD), which is actually more of a commercial, is included.

Dirty Work Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's no way to recommend "Dirty Work" to just anyone. It's specialized entertainment for viewers with a relaxed sense of humor and an appreciation for Macdonald's delivery and love of the ludicrous. It's far from a perfect film, perhaps not even a good one (the production doesn't do itself any favors when crudely painting over the effort R-rated intentions with dismal PG-13 jokes), but as candy-colored farces go, "Dirty Work" is relatively harmless entertainment that doesn't overstay its welcome (running a scant 77 minutes before end credits) and insists on heaping helpings of physical and weirdo comedy, doing whatever it can to please. The laugh percentage may not be there for everyone, but the picture never tires when it comes to sharing goofiness.