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{{Infobox Film {{Infobox film
| name = Dirty Work | name = Dirty Work
| image = DirtyWork1998.jpg | image = DirtyWork1998.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| writer = Frank Sebastiano<br/>]<br/>Fred Wolf
| narrator = ] | writer = Frank Sebastiano<br/>]<br/>]
| based_on =
| starring = Norm Macdonald<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]<br />]
| narrator = Norm Macdonald
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* Norm Macdonald
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]}}
| director = ] | director = ]
| producer = ] | producer = ]
| cinematography = Arthur Albert | cinematography = ]
| editing = George Folsey Jr. | editing = ]
| music = ] | music = ]
| distributor = ] | studio = ]<br>]
| distributor = ]
| released = June 12, 1998
| runtime = 81 minutes | released = {{Film date|1998|6|12}}
| country = {{filmUS}} | runtime = 82 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English | language = English
| budget = $13,000,000 | budget = $13 million
| gross = $10,023,282 | gross = $10 million
}} }}
'''''Dirty Work''''' is a ] ] ] starring ], ], ], and ]. It was directed by ]. In the film, long-time friends Mitch (Macdonald) and Sam (Lange) start a successful revenge-for-hire business, and try to earn ] for heart surgery for Pops (Warden). All goes well until they must do a dirty job for an unscrupulous businessman. In order to be paid, and expose their deadbeat customer, the pair hatch an outrageous revenge scheme of their own.


'''''Dirty Work''''' is a 1998 American ] directed by ]. The film follows long-time friends Mitch (]) and Sam (]) who start a revenge-for-hire business, and work to fund heart surgery for Sam's father Pops (]). ] and ] also star, and notable cameo appearances include ], ], ] (uncredited), ], ], ], ] (uncredited in his final film appearance), and ] (uncredited).
The film was the first starring vehicle for Macdonald and Lange. It was the first feature film directed by Saget, coming one year after he left his long-running role as host of '']''.


The film was the first starring vehicle for Macdonald and Lange, and the ] of Saget, coming one year after he left his long-running role as host of '']''.<ref>{{cite news
The film received broadly negative reviews from critics, and earned low box office returns. However, it has since become a cult favorite, due partially to ]'s later popularity on '']'' where the film is sometimes mentioned, often in unflattering terms.
|last=Snierson
|first=Dan
|title=Bob Saget returns to 'America's Funniest Home Videos' for 20th anniversary celebration
|newspaper=Entertainment Weekly
|date=September 16, 2008
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|access-date=August 8, 2011
|archive-date=October 16, 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016010723/http://insidetv.ew.com/2009/09/16/bob-saget-returns-to-americas-funniest-home-videos-for-one-episode/
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

Upon its theatrical release on June 12, 1998 by ], ''Dirty Work'' received largely negative critical reviews and was a ]. It has since become a ] and has been reappraised more positively by some critics. A sequel was planned but ultimately canceled following MacDonald and Saget's deaths in the early 2020s.


== Plot == == Plot ==
Growing up, friends Mitch Weaver (]) and Sam McKenna (]) are taught by Sam's hard-nosed dad Pops McKenna (]) not to "take crap from anyone". To that end, the pair get a ] arrested by planting a gun on him, and catch a kid-fondling ] in the act with glue. Growing up, friends Mitch Weaver and Sam McKenna are taught by Sam's hard-nosed father, "Pops" McKenna, not to "take crap from anyone". To that end, the pair plant a bunch of guns in a schoolyard ]'s desk and have him arrested for gun possession; next, they catch a ] ] in the act, after having applied ] to the seat of Mitch's pants.


In their adult lives, after losing 14 jobs in 3 months and getting dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch moves in with Sam and Pops, who then has a heart attack. In the hospital Pops confides that he is also Mitch's father, due to their parents' swinging lifestyle. Even though Pops' heart is failing, the gambling-addicted Dr. Farthing (]) will only raise his position on the transplant waiting list if he is paid $50,000 to save him from his bookie. Mitch and Sam get jobs in a cinema with an abusive manager (]), and exact their revenge by showing "Men In Black (Who Like To Have Sex With Each Other)" to a packed house. The other workers congratulate them and suggest that they should go into business. As adults, after losing fourteen jobs in three months and being dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch moves in with Sam and Pops, who then has a heart attack. In the hospital, Pops confides that, because of their parents' ], he is also Mitch's father, meaning that Mitch and Sam are half-brothers. Even though Pops' heart is failing, Dr. Farthing, a hopeless gambler, will raise Mr. McKenna's position on the transplant waiting list if he is paid $50,000, to save himself from his bookie. Mitch and Sam get jobs in a cinema with an abusive manager and exact their revenge by showing a ] to a packed house and get their manager fired. The other workers congratulate them and suggest they go into business.


Mitch and Sam open "Dirty Work", a revenge-for-hire business. Mitch falls for a woman named Kathy (]) who works for a shady used car dealer (]). After publicly embarrassing the dealer during a live TV commercial, the duo exacts increasingly lucrative reprisals for satisfied customers until they interfere with unscrupulous local property developer Travis Cole (]). Cole tricks them into destroying "his" apartment building (actually owned by Mr. John Kirkpatrick, the ]), promising to pay them enough to save Pops. Afterwards, Cole reneges, revealing that he is not the owner, and that he had them vandalize the building so that he could buy it cheaply, evict the tenants (including Kathy's grandmother), and build a parking lot for his luxurious new ]. Unknown to Cole, Mitch's "note to self"<ref>Macdonald used "Note to Self" (remedial reminders into a real or imagined pocket tape recorder) on '']'' '']'' segments.</ref> ] captures this confession. Mitch and Sam open "Dirty Work", a revenge-for-hire business. Mitch falls for a woman named Kathy who works for a shady used car dealer. After publicly embarrassing the dealer during a live television commercial, the duo exacts increasingly lucrative reprisals for satisfied customers until they interfere with unscrupulous local property developer Travis Cole. Cole tricks them into destroying "his" apartment building (actually owned by Mr. John Kirkpatrick, the landlord), promising to pay them enough to save Pops. Afterwards, Cole reneges, revealing that he is not the owner and that he had them vandalize the building so that he could buy it cheaply, evict the tenants (including Kathy's grandmother), and build a parking lot for his beloved ]. Unknown to Cole, Mitch's tape recorder captures this confession.


Mitch and Sam plot their revenge on Cole, using the tape to set up an elaborate trap. Using skunks, an army of prostitutes, homeless men, a noseless friend (]), brownies with hallucinogenic additives, and Pops, they ruin the opening night of '']'', an opera sponsored prominently by Cole. With the media present, Mitch plays back Cole's confession over the theater's sound system. Cole sees that his public image is being tarnished and agrees to pay the $50,000. In the end, Cole is punched in the stomach, arrested and jailed, his dog is raped by a skunk, and Mitch gets the girl. Dr. Farthing overcomes his gambling habit but is beaten to death by bookies anyway. Mitch and Sam plot their revenge on Cole, using the tape to set up an elaborate trap. Using skunks, a loyal army of prostitutes, homeless men, a noseless friend, brownies with hallucinogenic additives, and Pops, they ruin the opening night of '']'', an opera sponsored prominently by Cole. With the media present, Mitch plays back Cole's confession over the theater's sound system. Cole sees that his public image is being tarnished and agrees to pay the $50,000. In the end, Cole is punched in the stomach, arrested and jailed, his dog is raped by a skunk, Pops gets his operation, and Mitch gets the girl. Dr. Farthing overcomes his gambling habit, but gets beaten to death by the bookies anyway.


== Cast == == Cast ==
*] as Mitch Weaver * ] as Mitch Weaver
*] as Sam McKenna, Mitch's friend * ] as Sam McKenna, Mitch's friend and half-brother
*] as Pops McKenna, Sam's father * ] as Pops McKenna, Sam and Mitch's father
*] as Kathy, Mitch's love interest * ] as Kathy, Mitch's love interest
* ] as Travis Cole, ] ]
*] as Mr. Hamilton, an insulting theater owner
* ] as Dr. Farthing, gambling-addicted heart surgeon
*] as Travis Cole, corrupt ] businessman
*] as Dr. Farthing, the gambling-addicted doctor


Cameo appearances included ;Cameo appearances
*] as Bearded Lady * ] (uncredited) as Satan
*] as Mayor Adrian Riggins (uncredited) * ] (uncredited) as Mayor Adrian Riggins
* ] (uncredited in his final film appearance) as Jimmy, Mitch and Sam's friend
*] as Satan (uncredited)
*] as himself * ] as Mr. Hamilton, theater owner
*] as Anton Phillips * ] as bearded lady
*] as Jimmy (uncredited) * ] as himself
* ] as ring announcer
This was Farley's last-released film appearance. Former ''SNL'' writer ] and former ''SNL'' writer/performer Fred Wolf appeared as homeless men. Both writers have collaborated frequently with Macdonald and Sandler.
* ] as himself
* ] as Anton Phillips, a used car dealer
* ] as homeless man
* ] as homeless man
* ] as theater worker
* ] (drug dealer) as Low Life
* ] as reporter
* ] as Mr. Witherspoon


== Production and Release == == Production and release ==
Filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and at Wycliffe College there, the film was produced for an estimated $13 million.<ref> Filmed at ] and elsewhere around ], ], Canada in 1997, the film was produced for an estimated $13 million.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Box Office Data - Dirty Work
{{cite web |
|publisher=the-numbers.com
author=|
|url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1998/DIRTY.php
year=|
|access-date=2007-02-02
title=Box Office Data - Dirty Work|
|archive-date=2006-11-25
format= |
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061125150718/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1998/DIRTY.php
work=the-numbers.com |
|url-status=live
url=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1998/DIRTY.php | accessdate=2007-02-02}}
}}</ref>
</ref> American domestic gross was just over $10 million. No ads for the film were shown on ] until a week after the film's release.


In his first appearance on '']'' on September 18, 2008,<ref name="HS">{{cite web
During his first ever interview on ''The Howard Stern Show'' on September 18, 2008, co-star ] discussed the film's production and release with ]. According to Chase, he was impressed by the original script's raunchy, R-rated, "over the top" tone (particularly a filmed but ultimately cut gag involving Macdonald and Lange delivering donuts that had been photographed around their genitals) and went so far as to beg Macdonald to not allow any changes. However, the studios insisted on a PG-13 rating and rescheduled the film's release from February to Summer, where it fared poorly against blockbusters like '']''.
|title = The Best of the Week September 14–18 - Thursday: Chevy Chase in Studio
|date = September 18, 2008
|publisher = howardstern.com
|url = http://howardstern.com/rundown.hs?j=n&d=1221710400
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110930205944/http://howardstern.com/rundown.hs?j=n&d=1221710400
|archive-date = September 30, 2011
}}</ref> ] discussed the film's production and release with ].<ref name="MF08">{{cite web
|title=Chevy Chase Visits. 09/18/08. 7:55am
|first=Mark
|last=Mercer
|date=September 18, 2008
|publisher=marksfriggin.com
|url=http://www.marksfriggin.com/news08/9-15.htm
|access-date=August 8, 2011
|archive-date=October 7, 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007200901/http://marksfriggin.com/news08/9-15.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> According to Chase, he was impressed by the original script's ], ], "over the top" tone (particularly a filmed but ultimately cut gag involving Macdonald and Lange delivering donuts that had been photographed around their genitals)<ref name="MF08"/> and, Lange related, went so far as to beg Macdonald not to allow any changes—to "keep it funny". Lange said the studio insisted on a PG-13 rating and moved the film's release from the February ] to June, where it fared poorly against blockbusters like '']''.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite AV media
|title=Howard Stern Radio Show
|people=Stern, Howard; Chase, Chevy; Lange, Artie
|date=September 18, 2008
|medium=broadcast
|time=7:55-8:50
}}</ref>


During production, Norm Macdonald was embroiled in a feud with ], then an executive with ]. Ohlmeyer, a friend of ], took offense at Macdonald's frequent and pointed jokes about Simpson on '']'' and had Macdonald fired from the position. Ohlmeyer went further and refused to sell advertising space or air commercials for ''Dirty Work''.<ref name="ohlmeyernytobit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/sports/don-ohlmeyer-dead-television-abc-nbc.html |title=Don Ohlmeyer, 'Monday Night Football' Producer, Dies at 72 |first=Richard |last=Sandomir |author-link=Richard Sandomir |newspaper=] |date=September 10, 2017 |access-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-date=September 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911132653/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/sports/don-ohlmeyer-dead-television-abc-nbc.html |url-status=live }}</ref> NBC eventually relented a week after the film premiered; Ohlmeyer was forced into retirement not long afterward.<ref>{{cite web
MGM released a DVD of the film in August 1999.
|title=Norm Macdonald Wins "Dirty" War
|date=June 9, 1998
|first=Daniel
|last=Frankel
|publisher=E! Online
|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/norm_macdonald_wins_dirty_war/36539
|access-date=August 8, 2011
|archive-date=March 19, 2024
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319011704/https://www.eonline.com/news/36539/norm_macdonald_wins_dirty_war
|url-status=live
}}</ref>


''Dirty Work'' was Chris Farley's last-released film appearance, filmed before his fatal drug overdose in December 1997.
== Reception ==
The film received mostly negative critical reviews. It has a 17% critic rating at ], averaged from 23 reviews. Despite the bad reviews the film is moderately popular among viewers, enough to earn a 66% rating from the Rotten Tomatoes community.<ref>. ]. Retrieved 2010-07-17.</ref>


Norm Macdonald offered ] the role of Satan but he declined. Adam Sandler was eventually cast instead.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.vulture.com/amp/2012/02/the-lost-roles-of-howard-stern.html|title = The Lost Roles of Howard Stern|date = 9 February 2012|access-date = 28 September 2021|archive-date = 19 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210819224358/https://www.vulture.com/amp/2012/02/the-lost-roles-of-howard-stern.html|url-status = live}}</ref>
On co-star Artie Lange's stand-up comedy DVD, ''It's The Whiskey Talkin''', an audience member asks him to sign his copy of ''Dirty Work'', he does so and then gives the fan ten dollars, saying "you don't see ] doing that for '']''!" Lange then mentions that the review in his home town paper, '']'', said that he "had all the charm of a ]," to which MacDonald replied (in a sincere attempt to cheer him up) "that's a lot better than saying you have the charm of a regular rapist! A date rapist still has to get a ''date''!" <ref>{{cite video|people=Lange, Artie|title=It's the Whiskey Talkin'|publisher=]|medium=DVD|date= 2004|id= ASIN: B0006ZXTRK. |location=Tempe Improv (Arizona)|time=22:18}}</ref>


] released the film on DVD, in August 1999, and for digital rental/purchase.<ref>{{cite web
== Trivia ==
|url=http://www.mgm.com/view/Movie/541/Dirty-Work/
{{Trivia|date=April 2008}}
|title=MGM's Official Site for ''Dirty Work''
*On the October 12, 2006 ] radio show, Bob Saget recounted stories from behind the scenes with Artie Lange, and Stern revealed that he turned down the role of Satan in the film because he "just didn't get it."
|date=August 24, 1999
<!--*] has a cameo as Satan. moved to Cast -->
|publisher=Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc.
*The Dirty Work business phone number is "555-0187," a ] used later on '']''.<ref>{{cite web |
|access-date=August 8, 2011
url=http://snltranscripts.jt.org/99/99lerectile.phtml |
|archive-date=February 25, 2011
title=Transcript of Erectile Dysfunction Ad SNL 25:12 |
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225214535/http://www.mgm.com/view/Movie/541/Dirty-Work/
date=2000-02-12|
|url-status=live
work=snltranscripts.jt.org |
}}</ref>
author=Sean |
accessdate=2007-02-02
}}</ref>


== Reception ==
*In the scene where Mr. Hamilton (]) berates Mitch and Sam at length, Rickles ad-libbed personal insults at Lange ("baby gorilla", seen in the film) and Macdonald ("How you got this movie, I'll never know", seen in outtakes during the end credits). Macdonald's laughing at the insults thrown at Lange's character was also real and left in because he couldn't stop.
Critics mostly gave negative reviews. It was referred to as a "leaden, taste-deprived attempted comedy" and "a desert of comedy" with only infrequent humor in '']''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dirty Work (1998) - Film Review; Lurching Into Comedy With a Heart Attack |first=Lawrence |last=van Gelder |date=June 13, 1998 |newspaper=] |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9404E0DB1F3AF930A25755C0A96E958260 |access-date=February 7, 2017 |archive-date=March 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319011708/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/13/movies/film-review-lurching-into-comedy-with-a-heart-attack.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The '']'' described it as "a tone-deaf, scattershot and dispiritingly cheesy affair with more groans than laughs", and though Macdonald "does uncork a few solid one-liners", his lack of conviction in his acting "is amusing in and of itself, but it doesn't help the movie much".<ref>{{cite news|title=Movie Review - Dirty Work - Macdonald's 'Dirty Work' Needs a Laugh Transplant |first=David|last=Kronke |date=June 15, 1998 |newspaper=] |url=http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie980615-1,0,6137214.story |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006155502/http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie980615-1,0,6137214.story |archive-date=2008-10-06}}</ref>
The '']'' recommended the film only for "people who like stupid lowdown vulgar comedy. I had a few good laughs."<ref>{{cite news |title=It's a 'Dirty' Little Shame About Norm Macdonald |first=Bob |last=Graham |date=June 13, 1998 |newspaper=] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/06/13/DD104676.DTL |access-date=August 7, 2011 |archive-date=January 19, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030119090334/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/06/13/DD104676.DTL |url-status=live }}</ref>


It has a 14% critic rating at ], averaged from 28 reviews.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240319012253/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1083480-dirty_work |date=2024-03-19 }}. ]. Retrieved 2011-08-07.</ref> The film has been described as a "]".<ref>{{cite web
*Both Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange would go on to act in films about dog-napping, '']'' and '']''.
|title=Norm Macdonald - Me Doing Standup (review)
|publisher=Pitchfork
|first=Ian
|last=Cohen
|date=July 1, 2011
|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15587-me-doing-standup/
|access-date=August 8, 2011
|archive-date=January 18, 2018
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118204108/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15587-me-doing-standup/
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|publisher=Onion Inc.
|work=]
|title=Bob Saget (interview)
|first=Nathan
|last=Rabin
|date=December 2, 2010
|url=https://www.avclub.com/bob-saget-1798222959
|access-date=August 8, 2011
|archive-date=October 17, 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017115857/http://www.avclub.com/articles/bob-saget,48509/
|url-status=live
}}</ref> In his column, ''My Year of Flops'', critic ] describes ''Dirty Work'' as an example of "the ironic dumb comedy, the slyly postmodern lowbrow gag-fest that so lustily, nakedly embraces and exposes the machinations and conventions of stupid laffers that it becomes a sort of sublime bit of meta-comedy".<ref>{{cite web |last=Rabin |first=Nathan |url=https://www.avclub.com/my-year-of-flops-norm-macdonald-s-film-career-died-for-1798216270 |title=My Year Of Flops Norm MacDonald's Film Career Died For Your Sins Case File #133: Dirty Work |publisher=AV Club |date=March 18, 2009 |access-date=2012-03-05 |archive-date=2012-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222101637/http://www.avclub.com/articles/my-year-of-flops-norm-macdonalds-film-career-died%2C25290/ |url-status=live }}</ref>


==Discussed sequel ==
*In Norm Macdonald's ] sitcom '']'', Lange guest-starred (and later joined the cast) as Norm's half-brother. ] also guest-starred once as father of ]' character, and fakes a grab at Norm's crotch (as he did in ''Dirty Work'').<ref>{{Cite episode
When discussing a possible sequel to ''Dirty Work'' in 2018, Macdonald stated "It was an R-rated movie, so we made it that way, then they made it , so half the movie had to be cut. So it's hard for me to see it objectively. There might be another one coming now, I guess." Macdonald did not elaborate further regarding the potential sequel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottking/2018/09/10/norm-macdonald-on-new-show-burt-reynolds-dirty-work-2-and-louis-c-k/#255ce9572ca9|title=Norm Macdonald On New Show, Burt Reynolds, Dirty Work 2? And Louis C.K.|last=King|first=Scott|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-09-26|language=en|archive-date=2024-03-19|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240319012205/https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottking/2018/09/10/norm-macdonald-on-new-show-burt-reynolds-dirty-work-2-and-louis-c-k/?sh=419d68952ca9|url-status=live}}</ref> Bob Saget spoke about the sequel in May 2021 in an interview with ] on his podcast, "Comedy Gold Minds".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/7tzmrHpZIzzyxFEC7zBWBg?si=-K7_2aOcQLWeMbTLk4-aMg|title=In Memory of Bob Saget|website=]|date=13 January 2022}}</ref> Hart praised the film's moments and innovations, to which Saget replied, "you want to be in the sequel, we're making it?". Hart said he would do a cameo without hesitation, declaring ''Dirty Work'' to be one of his favorite movies of all time. Macdonald died four months later in September 2021, essentially ending talks of a sequel,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Genzlinger |first1=Neil |title=Norm Macdonald, 'Saturday Night Live' Comedian, Dies at 61 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/arts/television/norm-macdonald-dead.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=18 September 2021 |date=14 September 2021 |archive-date=18 September 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210918204951/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/arts/television/norm-macdonald-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref> followed soon after by Saget’s death in January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-10|title=Bob Saget, beloved TV dad of 'Full House,' dead at 65|url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-florida-orlando-bob-saget-4400459ad227dc804a9331fba38a7c57|access-date=2022-01-10|website=AP NEWS|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110085556/https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-florida-orlando-bob-saget-4400459ad227dc804a9331fba38a7c57|url-status=live}}</ref>
| title = Norm Dates Danny's Dad | episodelink = | url =
| series = The Norm Show | serieslink = The Norm Show | network = ]
| airdate = April 7, 1999 | season = 1 | number = 3 | minutes = 21:12
}}</ref>


==See also==
*Contrary to popular belief, Artie Lange and Norm Macdonald had not met prior to the production of this film, however they have become close friends in the years since.
* ]

* Norm Macdonald uses his ''SNL ]'' gag of "note to self..." throughout the film.

== Availability ==

The film has been made available on ], ] and ] from ] Home Entertainment.


== References == == References ==
{{reflist|1}} {{reflist}}


== External links == == External links ==
{{wikiquote}} {{wikiquote}}
* {{cite web|publisher=MGM|title=Dirty Work at MGM.com|url=http://www.mgm.com/title_title.php?title_star=DIRTYWOR|accessdate=Dec. 23, 2009}} * '''' at ] (archived)
* {{Allrovi movie|162712|Dirty Work}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0120654|title=Dirty Work}} * {{IMDb title|id=0120654|title=Dirty Work}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=451478}}
* {{AFI film|60810}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|id=1083480-dirty_work|title=Dirty Work}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=1083480-dirty_work|title=Dirty Work}}
* {{Mojo title|dirtywork|Dirty Work}}

{{Bob Saget}}
{{Norm Macdonald}}


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Latest revision as of 02:46, 1 January 2025

1998 American film
Dirty Work
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBob Saget
Written byFrank Sebastiano
Norm Macdonald
Fred Wolf
Produced byRobert Simonds
Starring
Narrated byNorm Macdonald
CinematographyArthur Albert
Edited byGeorge Folsey Jr.
Music byRichard Gibbs
Production
companies		Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Robert Simonds Productions
Distributed byMGM Distribution Co.
Release date
  • June 12, 1998 (1998-06-12)
Running time82 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$13 million
Box office$10 million

Dirty Work is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Bob Saget. The film follows long-time friends Mitch (Norm Macdonald) and Sam (Artie Lange) who start a revenge-for-hire business, and work to fund heart surgery for Sam's father Pops (Jack Warden). Christopher McDonald and Traylor Howard also star, and notable cameo appearances include Don Rickles, Rebecca Romijn, John Goodman (uncredited), Gary Coleman, Chevy Chase, David Koechner, Chris Farley (uncredited in his final film appearance), and Adam Sandler (uncredited).

The film was the first starring vehicle for Macdonald and Lange, and the directorial debut of Saget, coming one year after he left his long-running role as host of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Upon its theatrical release on June 12, 1998 by MGM, Dirty Work received largely negative critical reviews and was a disappointment at the box office. It has since become a cult classic and has been reappraised more positively by some critics. A sequel was planned but ultimately canceled following MacDonald and Saget's deaths in the early 2020s.

Plot

Growing up, friends Mitch Weaver and Sam McKenna are taught by Sam's hard-nosed father, "Pops" McKenna, not to "take crap from anyone". To that end, the pair plant a bunch of guns in a schoolyard bully's desk and have him arrested for gun possession; next, they catch a kid-fondling crossing guard in the act, after having applied Krazy Glue to the seat of Mitch's pants.

As adults, after losing fourteen jobs in three months and being dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch moves in with Sam and Pops, who then has a heart attack. In the hospital, Pops confides that, because of their parents' swinging lifestyle, he is also Mitch's father, meaning that Mitch and Sam are half-brothers. Even though Pops' heart is failing, Dr. Farthing, a hopeless gambler, will raise Mr. McKenna's position on the transplant waiting list if he is paid $50,000, to save himself from his bookie. Mitch and Sam get jobs in a cinema with an abusive manager and exact their revenge by showing a gay pornographic film to a packed house and get their manager fired. The other workers congratulate them and suggest they go into business.

Mitch and Sam open "Dirty Work", a revenge-for-hire business. Mitch falls for a woman named Kathy who works for a shady used car dealer. After publicly embarrassing the dealer during a live television commercial, the duo exacts increasingly lucrative reprisals for satisfied customers until they interfere with unscrupulous local property developer Travis Cole. Cole tricks them into destroying "his" apartment building (actually owned by Mr. John Kirkpatrick, the landlord), promising to pay them enough to save Pops. Afterwards, Cole reneges, revealing that he is not the owner and that he had them vandalize the building so that he could buy it cheaply, evict the tenants (including Kathy's grandmother), and build a parking lot for his beloved opera house. Unknown to Cole, Mitch's tape recorder captures this confession.

Mitch and Sam plot their revenge on Cole, using the tape to set up an elaborate trap. Using skunks, a loyal army of prostitutes, homeless men, a noseless friend, brownies with hallucinogenic additives, and Pops, they ruin the opening night of Don Giovanni, an opera sponsored prominently by Cole. With the media present, Mitch plays back Cole's confession over the theater's sound system. Cole sees that his public image is being tarnished and agrees to pay the $50,000. In the end, Cole is punched in the stomach, arrested and jailed, his dog is raped by a skunk, Pops gets his operation, and Mitch gets the girl. Dr. Farthing overcomes his gambling habit, but gets beaten to death by the bookies anyway.

Cast

Cameo appearances

Production and release

Filmed at Wycliffe College and elsewhere around Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1997, the film was produced for an estimated $13 million.

In his first appearance on The Howard Stern Show on September 18, 2008, Chevy Chase discussed the film's production and release with Artie Lange. According to Chase, he was impressed by the original script's raunchy, R-rated, "over the top" tone (particularly a filmed but ultimately cut gag involving Macdonald and Lange delivering donuts that had been photographed around their genitals) and, Lange related, went so far as to beg Macdonald not to allow any changes—to "keep it funny". Lange said the studio insisted on a PG-13 rating and moved the film's release from the February dump months to June, where it fared poorly against blockbusters like Godzilla.

During production, Norm Macdonald was embroiled in a feud with Don Ohlmeyer, then an executive with NBC. Ohlmeyer, a friend of O. J. Simpson, took offense at Macdonald's frequent and pointed jokes about Simpson on Weekend Update and had Macdonald fired from the position. Ohlmeyer went further and refused to sell advertising space or air commercials for Dirty Work. NBC eventually relented a week after the film premiered; Ohlmeyer was forced into retirement not long afterward.

Dirty Work was Chris Farley's last-released film appearance, filmed before his fatal drug overdose in December 1997.

Norm Macdonald offered Howard Stern the role of Satan but he declined. Adam Sandler was eventually cast instead.

MGM Home Entertainment released the film on DVD, in August 1999, and for digital rental/purchase.

Reception

Critics mostly gave negative reviews. It was referred to as a "leaden, taste-deprived attempted comedy" and "a desert of comedy" with only infrequent humor in The New York Times. The Los Angeles Times described it as "a tone-deaf, scattershot and dispiritingly cheesy affair with more groans than laughs", and though Macdonald "does uncork a few solid one-liners", his lack of conviction in his acting "is amusing in and of itself, but it doesn't help the movie much". The San Francisco Chronicle recommended the film only for "people who like stupid lowdown vulgar comedy. I had a few good laughs."

It has a 14% critic rating at Rotten Tomatoes, averaged from 28 reviews. The film has been described as a "cult classic". In his column, My Year of Flops, critic Nathan Rabin describes Dirty Work as an example of "the ironic dumb comedy, the slyly postmodern lowbrow gag-fest that so lustily, nakedly embraces and exposes the machinations and conventions of stupid laffers that it becomes a sort of sublime bit of meta-comedy".

Discussed sequel

When discussing a possible sequel to Dirty Work in 2018, Macdonald stated "It was an R-rated movie, so we made it that way, then they made it , so half the movie had to be cut. So it's hard for me to see it objectively. There might be another one coming now, I guess." Macdonald did not elaborate further regarding the potential sequel. Bob Saget spoke about the sequel in May 2021 in an interview with Kevin Hart on his podcast, "Comedy Gold Minds". Hart praised the film's moments and innovations, to which Saget replied, "you want to be in the sequel, we're making it?". Hart said he would do a cameo without hesitation, declaring Dirty Work to be one of his favorite movies of all time. Macdonald died four months later in September 2021, essentially ending talks of a sequel, followed soon after by Saget’s death in January 2022.

See also

References

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  2. "Box Office Data - Dirty Work". the-numbers.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-25. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
  3. "The Best of the Week September 14–18 - Thursday: Chevy Chase in Studio". howardstern.com. September 18, 2008. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011.
  4. ^ Mercer, Mark (September 18, 2008). "Chevy Chase Visits. 09/18/08. 7:55am". marksfriggin.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  5. Stern, Howard; Chase, Chevy; Lange, Artie (September 18, 2008). Howard Stern Radio Show (broadcast). Event occurs at 7:55-8:50.
  6. Sandomir, Richard (September 10, 2017). "Don Ohlmeyer, 'Monday Night Football' Producer, Dies at 72". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  7. Frankel, Daniel (June 9, 1998). "Norm Macdonald Wins "Dirty" War". E! Online. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  8. "The Lost Roles of Howard Stern". 9 February 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  9. "MGM's Official Site for Dirty Work". Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc. August 24, 1999. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  10. van Gelder, Lawrence (June 13, 1998). "Dirty Work (1998) - Film Review; Lurching Into Comedy With a Heart Attack". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 19, 2024. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  11. Kronke, David (June 15, 1998). "Movie Review - Dirty Work - Macdonald's 'Dirty Work' Needs a Laugh Transplant". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06.
  12. Graham, Bob (June 13, 1998). "It's a 'Dirty' Little Shame About Norm Macdonald". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on January 19, 2003. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  13. Dirty Work Archived 2024-03-19 at the Wayback Machine. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
  14. Cohen, Ian (July 1, 2011). "Norm Macdonald - Me Doing Standup (review)". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on January 18, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  15. Rabin, Nathan (December 2, 2010). "Bob Saget (interview)". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  16. Rabin, Nathan (March 18, 2009). "My Year Of Flops Norm MacDonald's Film Career Died For Your Sins Case File #133: Dirty Work". AV Club. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  17. King, Scott. "Norm Macdonald On New Show, Burt Reynolds, Dirty Work 2? And Louis C.K." Forbes. Archived from the original on 2024-03-19. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  18. "In Memory of Bob Saget". Spotify. 13 January 2022.
  19. Genzlinger, Neil (14 September 2021). "Norm Macdonald, 'Saturday Night Live' Comedian, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  20. "Bob Saget, beloved TV dad of 'Full House,' dead at 65". AP NEWS. 2022-01-10. Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2022-01-10.

External links

Films directed by Bob Saget
Norm Macdonald
Television series Norm Macdonald 2006
Other works
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