The Raunchy 90s Comedy With A Stand-up Legend Star You Can Stream Right Now
The late Norm MacDonald was the centerpiece of 1990s Saturday Night Live when he was the sole host of the “Weekend Update” segment. Though he had bit parts in several films during his tenure on the long-running NBC series, it wasn’t until 1998 that MacDonald earned his first starring role in a major production. That year, Dirty Work hit theaters and became an instant classic for MacDonald fans.
Norm MacDonald In Dirty Work
Dirty Work follows the lives of two old friends, Mitch (Norm MacDonald) and Sam (Artie Lange), who have spent their lives coming up with unique ways to get revenge on people who have crossed them.
Since childhood, the duo has pulled stunts that have embarrassed or enraged their targets, serving as a mean-spirited sense of justice Mitch and Sam exact with chilling and hilarious precision.
But when Sam’s father (Jack Warden) needs money for heart surgery, the young men realize that they can take their revenge schemes to a professional level.
Revenge For Hire
Mitch and Sam begin a “revenge for hire” business and begin collecting money from like-minded people who have been ripped off and have no legal recourse.
But when a slick businessman (Christopher McDonald) outwits them and prevents them from collecting their pay, Mitch and Sam prepare to take Dirty Work to the next level.
Sophmoric And Goofy
Dirty Work is a comedy that is as sophomoric as it is goofy. It succeeds in generating laughs for the cruel-hearted pranks and hilarious one-liners that spout from MacDonald’s mouth over the course of the 82-minute film.
MacDonald is in his element, delivering line after line in his trademark style of deliberately aloof dry wit, making some wonder what took film studios so long to give him a leading role.
Solid Laughs
The film follows predictable buddy-comedy tropes and isn’t creative with its storytelling, but that’s not what would drive a person to tune in. The imagination behind the revenge tactics not only produces gut-busting guffaws but also makes you think about the people in your life who have wronged you in some way. Dirty Work isn’t high art, but its approach to comedy is solid and deserves due recognition.
A Great Comedic Cast
Dirty Work marks Bob Saget’s directorial debut. Saget managed to make his first film exceed expectations. Saget had plenty of big names under his command on the set to contend with, as the film was flooded with cameos.
Fellow Saturday Night Live alumni Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley make unforgettable appearances, as do John Goodman, Don Rickles, Rebecca Romijn, Gary Coleman, David Koechner, and comedian Fred Wolf.
Streaming Dirty Work
REVIEW SCORE
It’s also worth mentioning that Mitch’s love interest in Dirty Work, Kathy, was the feature film debut of Traylor Howard. Howard and MacDonald play off one another well, but thankfully their romance was retained as a minor part of the story arc so as not to take too much away from the raucous antics of Mitch and Sam.
Dirty Work is worth a lot of laughs and garners 3.0/5.0 stars.
You can stream Dirty Work for free with Tubi.
