“Joe Dirt 2” seems to exist solely to make the first film look good in comparison. While I never hated “Joe Dirt,” I never liked the film and found it to be obnoxious and pointless. If only I knew that Fred Wolf & David Spade could dig deeper into the depths of obnoxiousness, then maybe I would’ve appreciated “Joe Dirt” more. Maybe had I, and everybody else, appreciated the first film, this sequel wouldn’t exist to punish us with. Maybe life would be different had the world enjoyed “Joe Dirt.”
This review has devolved into an “It’s a Wonderful Life” parody just like “Joe Dirt 2” did. That’s right, the plot to this random sequel loosely follows that of the classic Frank Capra film, because that hasn’t been done in a comedy before. You know what else hasn’t been done in a comedy before? Send-ups of “Forrest Gump,” “Cast Away,” “Back to the Future,” and “The Silence of the Lambs.” It’s a wonder that, after all these years of these films being released, that no filmmaker(s) has lampooned them. Oh wait, films have satirized these popular films and the jokes have been beaten to death. That doesn’t stop Wolf & Spade from beating the dead horse because they’ve got nothing else better to do. I’m surprised a parody of “The Matrix” wasn’t thrown into the mix.
“Joe Dirt 2” opens with a parody of “Forrest Gump” as Joe Dirt (David Spade) recounts his story after the events of the first film to a stranger at a bus stop. Actually, the first stranger calls him out on the “Forrest Gump” parody, then calls him a bitch waffle and leaves. The second stranger is much kinder and actually listens to Joe, which is actually cruel to the audience. Bring back the woman who coined the term bitch waffle, please! After the events of the first film, Joe marries the love of his life, Brandy (Brittany Daniel), and the two have three daughters. Joe begins to feel as if he’s not good enough for them, which leads him down the “It’s a Wonderful Life” path as he’s sucked into a time vortex thanks to a twister (that’s right, there’s a “Twister” parody in here) and sent back in time to the year of his birth, 1965. From there, he needs to figure out his purpose in life, which he feels is to become rich to better provide for his future family.
Before Joe can discover his true meaning in life, he has to wade through countless “comedic” interludes, beginning with him and his trailer landing on a biker gang leader (that’s right, there’s a “Wizard of Oz” parody in here). Foggle (Patrick Warburton) deems Joe their new leader, because biker gang leaders are decided via twister occurrences, but Joe is shortly kicked out after suggesting they help those in need instead of causing trouble. Joe then steals the former leader’s boots so the bikers have a reason to chase him throughout the film. By the way, if you’re wondering why they chose such a goofy name in Foggle, it’s so Joe can utter the line “Why don’t you go play Boggle, Foggle?” I’m not kidding.
After Joe narrowly escapes the wrath of the bikers, he stumbles into a parody of “Back to the Future” as he bumps into Brandy’s mother, Ashleen (Brittany Daniel). In this timeline, Brandy’s mother is being courted by the father of Jimmy (Mark McGrath), who was Dirt’s competition when it came to Brandy. I can’t remember if he was Joe’s enemy in the first film and I don’t care enough to do the research to find out. All I know is that Jimmy is an asshole, as was his father, who tried to perform the popcorn surprise trick at the drive-in on Ashleen, but instead his family and friends shove their hands into the bucket instead, causing him to ejaculate on them (without them realizing somehow). This is the kind of material we’re dealing with.
A bizarre popcorn surprise incest joke isn’t the only vulgar material found in the film. Throughout the film, Joe encounters loggers who fart on him, lesbian nurses who smoke during his triplets’ birth (including the male doctor making the remark, “Martin Scorsese couldn’t compose a better shot,” in reference to them making out), men soaking tampons in vodka and shoving them up their asses, Joe’s balls accidentally being extracted by a doctor, and Joe’s extracted balls getting stuck in an airplane toilet. While none of these gags are funny, they’re at least inspired, unlike the rest of the film. I’d rather Wolf & Spade strike out with insipid, gross gags then swing and miss with pop culture references (such as one instance where Joe makes a crass remark, followed by the “Thug Life” meme playing out on screen).
Gross gags are surprisingly far and few between, as Wolf & Spade have too much fun with Joe interacting with people in the past. At one point, Joe attends an early concert of “Lynyrd Skynryd,” who at the time go by the name of “The Wildcats.” Joe tries to sway them in the right direction with a band name, but they suggest names such as “Wham,” “One Direction,” and “New Kids on the Block,” because that’s the best gag Wolf & Spade could come up with. A quip about the band buying a plane is also thrown in, which is referenced later (in 1977, naturally) to no effect.
Joe also bumps into an early version of Clem (Christopher Walken), who is a mob kingpin who goes by the name of Frank. Seemingly, Walken was only on the set for a day, as his only purpose is to call Joe his golden goose (as Joe correctly predicts sporting events for him to further drive home the “Back to the Future” parody) and save him from the bikers at one point. Clem doesn’t even threaten to stab anybody in the face with a soldering iron; what a waste! Dennis Miller also returns as the narrator and does provide at least one good line when he calls a doltish character “John C-Minus Reilly.”
Despite the atrocity at hand in “Joe Dirt 2,” I still don’t find myself completely hating the film. Much like the first film, it is obnoxious and pointless (more so than the first), but I do find the character of Joe Dirt to be likable and endearing. Sure, when he’s making crass jokes and dropping lines such as “What’s crappening?” he can be annoying, but he is a sweet and kind character at heart. I know it was always David Spade’s intention to finally play a likable character, and he does just that with Joe Dirt, but he doesn’t play the character in a good film. Both “Joe Dirt” films are as crass and rude as Spades’ typical characters with the only difference being that David is playing the nice guy this time around. What Spade should be aspiring to do is to play a nice character in a good film. I just hope he doesn’t take this to mean that he & Wolf should try once again with “Joe Dirt 3.”
P.S. There is a reference to “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star” in this film, as Joe Dirt utters the line “Nucking futs” at one point. I guess this means we can expect “Dickie Roberts: Still a Former Child Star” soon.
Final Rating: D