I've been a fan of Norm Macdonald for a number of years, and his unfortunate demise in 2021 sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to track down some of his more 'Complete' work, as a lot of what i'd seen had been television appearances or interviews. That was how I landed on 'Dirty Work' and after keeping it on my 'watch list' for a number of years, Vinegar Syndrome decided to release it in 4k…which I promptly snatched up…Then it sat in my 'To Watch' pile for a while…I wasnt THAT invested…anyway; I watched it.
The plot is pretty simple, Norm plays Mitch, a man with one clear life value. He doesnt take crap from anyone. In the past, this meant getting revenge on those that wronged him in increasingly chaotic and creative ways. However; time passes and in his 30s Mitch finds himself fired from several jobs, broken up with and having to live at his friend Sams house with his increasingly perverted and aggressive father.
Things go from bad to worse, when 'Pops' suffers a massive heart attack, and because he's old and not famous. He's at the bottom of the donor list. That is until a doctor offers Mitch and Sam a proposition, if they can find 50 grand to help the doctor pay off the bookies, the doctor will pull some strings to push Pops to the top of the donor list.
At first, the pair try several jobs to little or no success…Until a chance encounter gives MItch the push he needs. they'll open a 'revenge for hire' business. Its simple, you call with a grievence, Mitch and Sam turn up and get revenge, get paid and get the money to save Pops.
However, when they end up in front of rich businessman Travis Cole who offers to fully fund their venture. They find themselves embroiled in a situation that may cost them absolutely everything.
For the purpose of this review I should clarify that I watched the 'Dirtier' version of this film, apparently that means theres a few extended and additional scenes that take it from a PG13 rating to an R rating. more edgy jokes etc…Its kind of hard to tell whats been added/removed to make it the R cut, because this was a comedy made in 1998 and, realistically; the amount of political incorrectness here kind of makes it hard to tell what was '90s' acceptable…and what wasnt.
In either case, I was very pleasantly surprised by this one, the script is solid, moves at a clip, has a good clean 3 act structure and has a quite satisfying ending. The tone is very much in line with Norms usual style of dry and acidic humour. Very self aware, very much willfully obtuse. And to that end, this thing has a hell of a hit rate on gags. I laughed openly pretty much every couple of minutes on this, which given its a fairly 'hidden' 90s comedy, makes it something of a hidden gem really.
The cast all get a decent share of the gags, with it being a 90s comedy, you CAN expect to see multiple VERY non PC gags make it in, its a known hazard that comes with the terratory, so expect several rape and homophobic gags alongside other bits in dribs and drabs. If you can stomach those pitfalls though, the rest is really quite funny and a good introduction to Norms usual style.
The direction and cine are both studio grade, not a whole lot to report on that front from me, its a solid enough shot MGM piece that doesnt exactly elevate the genre. But it gets the job done and almost all of the visual gags are handled extremely well. compositions are solid, sequences flow effortlessly, theres a really nice vibrant colour palette. the cast all know exactly how to time their gags and where they should be placed on set. Its a really solid work that helps to keep things chugging along.
The real surprise for me was the cast roster. This film is STUDDED. and I *mean* STUDDED with more comedy royalty that I can even begin to list. WIth key players being Norm (obviously) Don RIckles, Chris Farley, Chevy Chase, John Goodman, Traylor Howard and a not insignificant number of deeper cut stand up comics from the time. Honestly, I didnt expect that many known faces to turn up for a somewhat obscure picture. and again, they REALLY help to smooth over any issues and bring the thing to life.
Add to that a good little 'Jukebox' soundtrack mixing contemporary 90s pop such as Green day, Chumbawumba and Third eye blind with the likes of ACDC, Rupert Holmes and KMFDM. Its a solid soundtrack that does sound a little bit 'noisy' at times…but again, victim of the times unfortunatley on that front. Its positively nostalgic at this point and also raised a few laughs to boot!
All in all, I went into 'Dirty Work' with somewhat lowered expectations given how buried it had been over the years. But having now seen it, I was actually very pleasently surprised. I dont think it'd land quite as well with younger audiences today. I think you very much had to live through the times to really properly 'get' it. But if you were around in the 90s, and you know what your getting into with late 90's early 2000s gross out comedies…Then I think you'll be very pleasently surprised. I really enjoyed it, and Id absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a 90s comedy 'fix'
source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/dirty-work-1998/
