Joe Dirt
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Cast: David Spade, Dennis Miller, Brittany Daniel, Christopher Walken
Extras: Commentary Tracks, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes & Bloopers, Trailers
Rating:
’Saturday Night Life’ alumni David Spade has appeared in numerous films, some successful, some less so. His latest outing ’Joe Dirt’ is now available on DVD courtesy of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and when I checked out this release, I was very pleasantly surprised that this film is much better than I had expected. I had some great laughs on chuckles throughout the film and its mindless, light-hearted, mischievous humor is just the right thing to sit down and relax after a stressful day.
Joe Dirt (David Spade) is the janitor at a radio station when the DJ (Dennis Miller) wants to use him as the butt of his show. But soon it becomes evident that the jokes is really on him and that the seemingly dimwitted geek has a story to tell that amazes the DJ as well as audiences around the country. Qucikly Joe becomes a popular figure as he takes the funny and emotional trip down memory lane and exposes his whole, slightly derailed life on radio.
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment brings us ’Joe Dirt’ on a dual-layer disc that contains an anamorphic widescreen version of the movie in its theatrical 1.85:1 aspect ratio, as well as open matte fullscreen presentation. Being a brand new film, it is hardly surprising that the elements used for this DVD are without any defects or speckles, creating a sparkling image that is absolutely clean and stable. No grain is visible in the film and mostly free of edge-enhancement and its accompanying ringing artifacts, the transfer looks phenomenal. Colors are very rich and vibrant without being oversaturated, and fleshtones are naturally rendered at all times. Definition is very high bringing out even the most subtle information in the film print while the solid black levels renders deep blacks and well delineated shadows. The compression is also very good without notable compression artifacts.
The DVD contains a 5.1 channel audio mix that is very active throughout, creating a lively sound field that makes good use of the surround channels and has a wide spatial integration in the front field. Frequency response is wide and covers the entire sonic spectrum nicely with clear high ends and a very present bottom end. Dialogues are also well integrated, creating a presentation that is always understandable and never harsh-sounding.
The DVD also contains an assortment of cool and exciting supplements, such as two separate audio commentary tracks by director Dennie Gordon and David Spade, deleted scenes, outtakes and many others.
’Joe Dirt’ is a lot of fun. Those who never liked David Spade will certainly not get much out of it, but for the rest of us, this is 90-minutes of David Spade in the blood. Shrieking, hysterical, funny, dumb and occasionally touching, his character is funny to watch and his tribulations a riot to observe. Like the listeners on the radio show in the film, you, too, will be sitting in your chair, wanting to know more about this whacky life story of Joe Dirt.
