In David Spade's latest movie, "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," he plays an actor trying to step back into the Hollywood spotlight. Yet, by having the lead part in this less-than-entertaining movie, Spade shows that he does not know what it takes to deliver a genuinely funny feature presentation.
In his first movie since 2001's terrible "Joe Dirt," Spade plays a role that would be perfect for his late Saturday Night Live and film co-star, Chris Farley. Spade's character, Dickie Roberts, gets caught up in countless situations that result in him falling on his back or getting hit in the face by various household objects.
Where Spade's partner Farley made a career off of such gags (starting with SNL, and eventually in "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep"), Spade's strengths always were - and still are - his sarcastic remarks and demoralizing insults.
However, "Dickie Roberts" leans more towards slapstick humor and tends to shy away from any witty, insulting outbursts. Spade is at his best when playing a condescending character unable to see past his own pessimistic values.
Truth be told, watching a whiny, little know-it-all being attacked by a garden hose is just not as entertaining as watching the same thing happen to a loud, overweight half-wit.
While doing research for a role, Dickie pays a family of four to let him live with them for a month, while he attempts to experience a childhood outside of the entertainment industry. The family's father, who is never home, his unhappy wife and their energetic son and daughter eventually grow to love Dickie. When he helps them in return, he ends up learning enough about himself to land the role.
In the end, though, Dickie is faced with the decision to make the movie that will put him back on top, or stay with the family that has grown to love him.
The film does a fine job in incorporating actual former child stars into the script. Dustin Diamond (Screech from "Saved by the Bell"), Sasha Mitchell (Cody from "Step by Step"), Gary Coleman and many other recognizable "has-been" stars appear throughout the film.
The sad part is that while the movie features recognizable stars of the past, their mere participation backfires. Instead of giving new life to these once-popular stars, this film is unfortunately another failure to add to their list of unsuccessful sitcoms and films.
The movie has a predictable Adam Sandler-like plot: take a middle-aged, burnt-out man with relationship problems; send him on a path of wacky encounters and conflicts, until finally his life is sorted out.
While the movie follows that familiar formula, the problem lies in the fact that the zany occurrences are not all that funny, and the quirky conflicts are not very interesting. Ninety percent of the scenes show only the four main characters-Dickie, the mother, the two kids-and very little action takes place.
"Dickie Roberts" is one of those films that show all of the funny scenes in the trailer and television ads. Hopefully viewers will realize that David Spade was once, and probably still should be, a very funny actor.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
