Dirty Work

Released by: Olive Films
Released on: September 22nd, 2015.
Director: Bob Saget
Cast: Jack Warden, Norm MacDonald, Chevy Chase, Artie Lange
Year: 1998
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

Bob Saget's 1998 film Dirty Work (the Full House star's directorial debut!) stars Norm McDonald as Mitch Weaver but he's basically playing Norm McDonald. The movie also stars Artie Lange as Mitch's best friend, Sam McKenna but Artie is basically playing Artie Lange. If that concept appeals to you, then the odds are very good that you'll find Dirty Work to be pretty funny. At the same time, if you're not a fan of McDonald or Lange, then the odds are equally good you'll want to turn this off five minutes in. Personally? I think these guys are funny and Dirty Work… works for me.

A quick intro explains how growing up Mitch and Sam promised never to take any crap from anybody. When they got screwed over, which happened often enough, they got revenge. This has carried over into their adult lives but it's also meant that they don't do very well at grown up things like holding jobs. Sam still lives at home with his pops (Jack Warden) and after Mitch's girlfriend gives him the boot, he moves in… only for pops to have a heart attack.

At the hospital the doctor (Chevy Chase) tells them that because pops is old and not likely to be around a whole lot longer anyway, there's no chance he'll make it to the top of the list for heart donors. There is, however, a way they can change that - get the doctor fifty grand within two weeks so he can pay off the bookie he's in debt to. They wind up taking a job working for a grumpy theater owner (Don Rickles) but they don't like being treated like crap and wind up getting back at him - which gives them an idea: go into the revenge business. After bum rushing a shifty used car dealer (David Koechner) during his live TV commercial to promote their own business, they're off and running even if it means the cute girl Mitch likes, Kathy (Traylor Howard), is out of a job. Before you know it, Mitch and Sam have been taken advantage of by crooked real estate tycoon Travis Cole (Christopher McDonald) and set out to do what they do best…

Deep? No, not at all but Dirty Work is quick with its pace and rarely goes too long between gags. The highlights here are when the revenge scheme are put into action. Sometimes they go off without a hitch, other times they turn out to be complete disasters but they are pretty much always funny (a great example being when the guys put a bunch of 'dead hookers' into the trunks of the cars being shown on the live TV commercial). McDonald plays the schemer well, using his constantly sarcastic, dead-pan delivery style to his character's advantage while Lange plays the loveably but dim-witted sidekick just as well. Jack Warden tends to steal most the scenes that he's in as the dirty old man that both guys care about, while Christopher McDonald plays the sleazy rich guy just as well here as he has in quite a few other movies (think Happy Gilmore).

The supporting players are great here too. Rickles shows up for a couple of minutes and does his insult comic thing perfectly while Chevy Chase as the doctor is also pretty amusing. David Kochner's cameo is a kick while cameos from Chris Farley (his last movie role), Adam Sandler, John Goodman and Gary Coleman add to the fun. Add to that a soundtrack full of nineties pop radio hits, some delightfully stupid but honestly funny sight gags and more one-liners than you can shake a dead fish at and this one makes for a fun watch. It isn't particularly artsy or even all that substantive, but it is entertaining.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Olive Films brings Dirty Work to Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen. This is a nice transfer. There are a couple of small specks and scratches easy to spot as the movie plays out but there's nothing to serious here as to distract from the feature. Colors look great for the most part (there are one or two shots where the reds look just a bit too thick) and black levels are solid. Detail is definitely improved over the previous DVD release and there are no problems with obvious noise reduction filtering or compression artifacts. Yeah, all in all, the movie looks quite nice here.

The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is also quite good. This isn't the most bombastic surround track you'll ever hear but there are some fun bits where directional effects do come into the mix nicely. The score is also spread around well. Dialogue is crisp, clean and clear and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion to note. No alternate language options or subtitles are provided.

Aside from static menus and chapter selection, the disc also includes a trailer for the feature.

The Final Word:

Dirty Work isn't a masterpiece but it sure is a lot of fun. Nobody is really stretching here, it's mostly Lange and McDonald playing themselves and moving from one goofy set piece to the next, but it's a kick to watch them do it and a great supporting cast helps too. Olive's Blu-ray is light on extras as most of their releases tend to be, but it does look and sound quite nice.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!