I have become a David Spade fan, after regularly watching “Just Shoot Me”. He has an uncanny ability to mouth his dialogues without changing his facial expressions and yet evoke uncontrollable laughter. Recently watched his latest film – Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star and it was a roller coaster ride of sheer fun and some really boring scenes. On the whole I would rate this a 3 out of 5 and would recommend it for one viewing.
The movie was released on Sept 5 and I saw it on Sept 10 in a theater where I was the only audience – felt like I was getting a private show - this was in a small mid-western town in the middle of corn fields and does not in anyway reflect the quality of the film.
The running time is 110 minutes and is directed by Sam Weisman.
The Plot:
Dickie Roberts was a famous child TV star in the early 70’s sitcom where his catch phrase was “This is nucking futs”. His mom used to love him for his stardom. The ratings for the TV show dropped and the show was abruptly stopped and his mom deserted him.
Fast Forward to Dickie’s adulthood – he earns a living by being a valet. His life is totally twisted, he is a total mess and he is desperately looking for that one chance to be a recognized as a star again. Add to that his girlfriend, Cindy leaves him – high and dry.
His search for that special role makes him knock the doors of the famous Hollywood director Rob Reiner who is in the process of casting for his next movie “Blake’s Backyard”. The story is perfect and Dickie feels that this role is going to re-launch his acting career. While auditioning for the part, Rob dismissed him saying that since Dickie has had no proper childhood, he would be unfit for the role.
Dickie advertises for a family to adopt him for a month so that he can re-live his childhood – the money he raises by selling the rights to his yet-to-be-completed memoirs.
The Finney’s – consisting of the husband (George), Wife (Grace), Son (Sam ) and daughter (Sally) accept him as part of their family. George who works as a car salesman badly needs the money. Initially the children resent having to share the household with a total freaky looking gloved character and refer to Dickie as “stranger danger”.
Dickie slowly starts integrating into the family and befriends Sally by helping her in the cheerleader dance routine and assists Sam to overcome his shyness and befriend Barbie - his new girl next door.
Dickie’s former girl friend Cindy on hearing about the change in Dickie’s character makes a come back – but Dickie refuses to continue their relationship. George succumbs to Cindy’s charms and runs away with her only to join the Hare Rama Hare Krishna mission.
Dickie does get the coveted part in the Rob Reiners’ movie – only after his agent (Sidney) agrees to donate one of his kidneys to Rob.
Finally, Dickie gets to marry Grace and he has a family of his own.
It is a feel good movie with a happy ending and the fun is in watching the story unfold and the crisp dialogues. The movie is rated PG-13.
The Performances:
# David Spade as Dickie Roberts. He is a natural born comedian with effortless acting and perfect sense of dialogue delivery. This was his movie all the way. The only negative aspect about his acting was that at times you felt you were watching him on TV – it was all so surreal.
# Craig Bierko as George – the husband. He has a sidey role and gave an OK performance.
# Mary McCormack as Grace – the wife, She was very charming and helps Dickie re-live some of his childhood moments.
# Jon Lovitz as Sidney – he was the agent for Dickie and did not have much scope for his acting talents.
# Alyssa Milano as Cyndi - she had a brief role and does exactly what she was known for – a C-Grade TV actress.
# Brendan Fraser as himself: A brief cameo role, who helps Dickie get an audition with Rob.
# Rob Reiner as himself: Another cameo appearance.
# Sam - the son. He gave an OK performance.
# Sally: - the daughter. She was looking charming and is one good actress to watch out for, when she grows up.
This movie reminded me, to a certain extent, some of the child stars in Bollywood who struggled when they grew older. A case in point was Master Raju – he was adorable as a child star in movies like Chitchor but a total disaster when he grew up.
Some people are born lucky – Shah Rukh Khan started as a child star on TV and look where he is now – a debatable and envious position, no doubt.
All in all, this movie is more fascinating than entertaining.
If you are looking for a light comedy film to relax, this will do.
Happy viewing.