Review: Joe Dirt 2 Beautiful Loser

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

PLOT: After a tragic event involving a number of people farting in his face, Joe Dirt somehow manages to go back to the past. It is there he attempts to find a way to get his wife and daughters to respect him again… Good luck with that.

REVIEW: Let’s be clear, there are some movies just not meant for critics. Many of these types of  flicks can be entertaining, if you have the right group watching, and possibly a keg available for consumption. And then there is JOE DIRT 2: BEAUTIFUL LOSER… the much anticipated (?!?) sequel to the 2001 moderate David Spade hit JOE DIRT – it made a little bit of money so there you go. Now the question is, did it make enough money to really warrant a sequel? Well, whether it did or no there is one, and I’ve watched it. Watching this sequel, I found so many quotes in this flick that could be used for this review. “So funny I forgot to laugh.”, “I just get stupider”, “22 times ain’t funny no more”… well thankfully I didn’t have to watch this mess of a movie 22 times, once is more than enough.

Poor Joe Dirt (David Spade). This dumb fella has a beautiful wife Brandy (Brittany Daniel) and three adorable kids. But apparently Joe has fallen on hard times and lost the respect of his daughters after a bunch of dudes – and one hot chick – farted in his face repeatedly. Seriously! So Joe finds himself in a strange mix of FORREST GUMP and BACK TO THE FUTURE. He sits and tells his tale to a kind woman (Tracy Weisert) on a park bench instead of a radio station as he did in the last movie. And through some magical THE WIZARD OF OZ shite, he ends up going back to 1965 after a tornado hits his trailer – unfortunately it wasn’t a SHARKNADO. Throughout this piece of entertainment, Joe Dirt gets humped by dogs, chased down by a biker gang led by Patrick Warburton, and of course farted on. This guy’s life sucks ass, but he remains optimistic hoping to win the respect of his family.

If you can’t tell, this was not what you would call an enjoyable watch. At a far too painfully long 107 minute running time, the lame jokes keep coming without a laugh in sight. Perhaps fans of the original may appreciate the white trash, dumb humor that keeps running on empty. The guffaws are non-existent as Joe finds himself in bizarre situations, including meeting a young group of musicians who are destined to become Lynyrd Skynyrd – them trying to come up with a band name falls flat. To be perfectly fair, you get the distinct feeling that everybody making the film is having a blast and a half. So good on them for that. However, if you are sitting at home watching this sequel on Crackle, you may not find the experience nearly as enjoyable. There is much too much of everything, except something that is actually funny.

David Spade, who wrote the script, is sort of convincing in the role. He wears the mullet proud and is very comfortable as the lovable loser that wants to do right by his family. If only the humor didn’t feel borrowed and flat. Aside from the many films Joe Dirt 2 pays homage to, there is a little bit of PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE engrained in Dirt’s journey – as well as Tom Hanks CASTAWAY. It is all recycled or a retread of something far better. It is a lifeless bore. Even the collection of talent involved can’t save this flick. Christopher Walken does his thing, and does it well enough again. Dennis Miller returns, as do a number of players from the original and perhaps if you are a fan of the first, you’ll revel in the JOE DIRT nostalgia. Having not seen the first, it was completely lost on me.

JOE DIRT 2: BEAUTIFUL LOSER is not a good film. In fact, it is utterly terrible. Sometimes you can find a ton of fun while watching a really bad flick, and maybe some of you will find it funny enough to sit through. I’m all for a little white trash funny, but there was not a single joke that made me laugh, or even crack a smile. This sequel is too long and really quite a mess. However director Fred Wolf and David Spade will surely please a few folks that were all giggles for the first. I’m sure some of you possibly wanted more mullet in their cinematic viewing. For the rest of us, JOE DIRT 2 is comparable to one of those dull Saturday Night Live skits that never ends, except this one is nearly two hours. If you have nothing better to do, at least it’s free on Crackle.

 

Source: JoBlo.com

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JimmyO is one of JoBlo.com’s longest-tenured writers, with him reviewing movies and interviewing celebrities since 2007 as the site’s Los Angeles correspondent.