Joe
Dirt (2001/Sony Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B- Film: C
Joe
Dirt (2001) is a milestone for actor David Spade and one of the
better comedies produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production
company. In the wake of the Crackle.com exclusive feature Joe
Dirt 2 about to be released online, Sony has brought back the
comedy and given it new life on the Blu-ray format. The absence of
Chris Farley is evident in this one and I'm sure he would have had a
great character had he still been alive when this was put out.
The
film itself stands up since its release in theatrical release 2001,
and features some excellent appearances by other famous comedians and
actors such as Dennis Miller, Christopher Walken (yes, he counts),
Jamie Pressly, Tyler Mane, Kid Rock, Rosanna Arquette, Fred Ward and
more. Lightheartedly but not perfect, your enjoyment will be based
on what kind of comedy you prefer and how you feel about Spade as a
comedian heavily.
Joe
Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream
to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a
belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van
Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe
hits the road alone in search of his folks. As his wandering,
misguided search takes him from one hilarious misadventure to
another, Joe finds his way to Los Angeles, where a shock-jock brings
Joe on his radio show to insult him. But as Joe's life story
unfolds, jeers turn to cheers, and an entire captivated city tunes in
to hear the adventures of Joe Dirt.
Sony
has upgraded the film with a sharp 1080p high definition transfer
with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a crystal clear,
lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that sounds better than the
film did in theaters. There's also a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track
on the disc and subtitles in English, English SDH, French, and
Spanish. Originally shot on 35mm film, the image details look very
good on disc, especially the exterior shots which feature great flesh
tones and black levels that don't stray too far from being natural
looking. They took care of these elements.
Extras
include:
Audio
Commentary with the Director Dennie Gordon
An
Audio Commentary with David Spade
The
Making of Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser
Joe
Dirt - The Return
Outtakes
and Bloopers
Deleted
Scenes
Joe
Dirt's Original Theatrical Trailer
If
you are a fan of 'dumb' comedies but much like Sandler's The Water
Boy, a comedy with some heart behind it then you can do worse
than Joe Dirt. Thanks to Sony, the film looks better on disc
then it ever has before too.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
