Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Blu-ray Movie Review

"Beautiful Loser:" at least they got it half right.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 2, 2016

The number of needless sequels is far too long to list or rank and far too dull a task to even consider in any serious fashion, but one movie that would be easy to say deserves a place of honor amongst the most pointless of them all is Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, a Crackle original film and follow-up to the cult favorite Joe Dirt released way back in 2001.The film returns many of the same characters and, despite a release date some 14 years removed from the first, essentially picks up where the previous film ended, but that's pretty much where the similarities end. Unfunny, absent any kind of character depth or dramatic purpose, and seemingly made because it could be made rather than because it should be made, this followup is a serious flop and unsurprising disappointment that aims to capitalize on name recognition and a thirst for more Dirt rather than take the franchise in any meaningful direction, unless one considers random movie references and a barely coherent plot "meaningful."

Beautiful loser.

Joe Dirt (David Spade) and Brandy (Brittany Daniel) have wed. She's given birth to triplets. They grow up, but Dirt remains the same. He's made fun of at work and leads a dead-end life. One day, however, a vicious storm blows in. He and his trailer and swept away and it lands some distance away on top of a biker gang leader. Now, he's given the role of leader but finds himself kicked out by number two man Foggle (Patrick Warburton) when Dirt tries to change the gang's direction and lead them to doing good. Now, he finds himself back in time in the 1960s and face-to-face with the previous generation where he meets, amongst others, Brandy's mom Ashleen (also played by Brittany Daniel), the group Lynyrd Skynyrd before they were Lynyrd Skynyrd, and a familiar face in a new role -- and a new suit -- that guides him to where he needs to be.

Joe Dirt 2 opens with a lame Forrest Gump bus stop parody and continues on with other random movie-related "jokes" including more Gump, a random nod to The Silence of the Lambs, a recreation of the opening title sequence from The Sopranos (that actually works rather well in a vacuum), and a plot direction that's sort of like some redneck version of It's a Wonderful Life. At its most coherent, the movie amounts to little more than the worst of the modern batch of parody films that believe that the mere act of showing something, even if it's completely out of context or, even worse, absent context, is funny just by the mere act of being in the movie. What else doesn't work? There's a ridiculously dull birthing sequence that involves a smoking nurse, a peeping tom doctor, and a lesbian tease. There's an extended fart sequence in which Dirt's co-workers on a logging job decide to break wind in his face. And there's more. Lots more. Joe Dirt 2 seems cobbled together with random ideas, some of which work in the Dirt world, some of which are forced, and some of which seem dropped in for no discernible reason. The movie runs far too long as a result, and the lack of a tighter, more linear story -- because there really isn't a story -- is the movie's primary death knell.

Where the movie does work well enough, in micro-spurts, comes thanks to the cast's contagious enthusiasm. In one scene, Spade spits out a few dozen nicknames for the biker gang he suddenly finds himself leading. Though the audience doesn't actually get to really see the people he is naming -- that would have required actually casting people who fit the name or making up a name that fit the actor -- Spade delivers all of them with a natural grace and excitement that fits the Joe Dirt character very well. In fact, Spade hasn't allowed the passing of time to dampen his enthusiasm or ability to recapture not only the characters' broad essence but his finer subtleties. Spade's work matches his original performance very well beyond the look. Going by his work alone, one would assume the movie was made soon after the original released, not almost 15 years later. But other than Spade, time hasn't been kind to the Joe Dirt universe. The film feels out of place and its inability to capture the same charms as the original negates the positives Spade brings to it, and then some. This might have worked better as a series of Joe Dirt vignettes rather than a full-blown film. There's just not enough here to warrant a movie that runs upwards of two hours, disappointing but not all that unexpected all things considered.

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser's digital photography is a little flat, but it's never wanting for precise detail and bold coloring. Sony's 1080p transfer reveals intimate details with astonishing ease, including facial lines, pores, and hairs; complex clothing textures; grass and terrain; and other elements. Image clarity is consistently strong. Colors are vibrant across the board, whether a bright green bus stop bench, natural vegetation and grass, or assorted clothes and cars. Black levels hold firm and flesh tones appear natural. Macroblocking and noise appear in a couple of shots but the transfer is otherwise a fine example of the modern digital presentation.

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is excellent, highlighted by several musical numbers that play with high energy, exceptional definition, enveloping stage placement, and positive supportive bass. Chapter four's tornado sends winds swirling around, not quite so potently as one might expect of a real weather-related Disaster movie but enough to set the tone and spill some powerful sonic elements into the stage. Minor supportive ambience seeps in throughout, but the movie is primarily a dialogue intensive experience. The spoken word flows from the center with no faults in clarity or prioritization in competition with other elements.

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Beyond a handful of trailers for other Sony properties, Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser contains no supplemental content.

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser is an unsurprising letdown of a movie beyond Spade's work. Yet even his performance is negated by a complete absence of purpose or story cohesion. It's OK in its first act, but once it flips to its time travel angle the movie falls apart hard and falls apart fast. The Blu-ray is at least fine, technically, yielding positive video and audio. Unsurprisingly, no extra content is included. Skip it.