Dirty Work (1998)

A loser finds success in the revenge-for-hire business.

Director:

Bob Saget

Writers:

Frank Sebastiano, Norm MacDonald,

Stars:

Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange, Jack Warden

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norm MacDonald	...	Mitch Weaver
Artie Lange	...	Sam McKenna
Jack Warden	...	'Pops' McKenna
Traylor Howard	...	Kathy
Don Rickles	...	Mr. Hamilton
Christopher McDonald	...	Travis Cole
Chevy Chase	...	Dr. Farthing
Bradley Reid	...	Mitch (at 8 Years Old)
Matt Steinberg	...	Mitch (at 16 Years Old)
Joseph Sicilia	...	Sam (at 8 Years Old)
Austin Pool	...	Sam - at 16 Years Old (as Austin John Pool)
Gerry Mendicino	...	Manetti
A. Frank Ruffo	...	Aldo
Hrant Alianak	...	John Kirkpatrick
Michael Vollans	...	Derek (at 10 Years Old)

Storyline

Mitch and Sam have to come up with $50,000 and fast! The only problem is neither one can hold down a job. Mitch finds a way to money by exploiting the only talents the two have, by opening a "Revenge For Hire" business.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | job | male rape | hallucinogen | prison rape | 

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Taglines:

It's Sick...It's Dirty...It's Their Job

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

MGM

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brudna robota

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,634,236 (USA) (12 June 1998)

Gross:

$9,975,684 (USA) (31 July 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Farley's last film

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Goofs

When Mitch and Sam are getting ready to destroy the building at 99 Franklin Street the same green car drives behind them twice in the same direction.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Derek: Hand over the milk money, Weaver.
Mitch: I'm afraid I can't do that, Derek. I'm just not sure you'll spend it on milk.

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Crazy Credits

Funny outtakes from the filming play during the first half of the credits.

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Connections

References From Russia with Love (1963)

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Soundtracks

"Good"
Performed by Better Than Ezra

User Reviews

Not for all tastes. But if it is your taste, THIS MOVIE'S HILARIOUS!!!

Not everybody appreciates the low-brow, sarcastic attempt that Norm McDonald takes towards comedy. I wouldn't call him a genius like Mel Brooks or Woody Allen, but he knows how to do comedy and he knows how to make people laugh--Well, he knows how to make ME laugh. Sometimes you see humor that's so dumb and meaningless that it makes you crack up. That is demonstrated again and again in "Dirty Work." For example, the scene at the movie theater. Norm and Artie took revenge on their evil boss by showing a movie called "Men in Black...Who Like to Have Sex with Each Other." OK, so this is not humor that was thought of with sheer ingenuity. But I was cracking the hell up! There are all sorts of different angles you can take towards humor. You can't always tell which is the best angle. When you watch an action movie, a drama, a thriller, a mystery or almost any other genre, you look for intelligence and wit. But when you watch a comedy there's two factors--at least there should be two factors--and those are: you laugh or you don't laugh. And different things make different people laugh. So I don't appreciate haters of this movie claiming this is no more than an insult to one's intelligence. You don't need intelligence for comedy. As long as a comedy makes me laugh, I'm satisfied, and I laughed A LOT!!!

I'm glad this movie received a cult following. This wasn't a big hit in mainstream cinema, but lots of friends I know love this movie--some thought it was the funniest comedy of all time. So my recommendation is split: You might like it, you might not like it. Just check it out, there's no harm. Unless you're easily offended by jokes about obesity and homosexuality.