Dirty Work (1998)

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

Director:

Bob Saget

Writers:

Frank Sebastiano, Norm MacDonald

Stars:

Norm MacDonald, Jack Warden, Artie Lange

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Norm MacDonald	...	Mitch
Jack Warden	...	Pops
Artie Lange	...	Sam
Traylor Howard	...	Kathy
Don Rickles	...	Hamilton
Christopher McDonald	...	Travis Cole
Chevy Chase	...	Dr. Farthing
Bradley Reid	...	Mitch (at 8 Years Old)
Matt Steinberg	...	Mitch (at 16 Years Old) (as Matthew Steinberg)
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	...	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.

---

Plot Keywords:

cameo appearance | deadpan humor | workout video | dog | camera | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual humor and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Artie Lange was wary of working with Chevy Chase after having heard many stories from friends and colleagues about Chase's nastiness, but in his book "Too Fat to Fish", Lange recounted that he loved working with Chase and they became good friends. Lange also recounted that Chase warned him that MGM would force them to make the film PG-13 rated for release even though it was written and filmed as an R-rated film, and told him to fight that move. Lange, Norm MacDonald, and the rest of the cast and crew did fight for the R, but the studio ultimately refused because they said that there was not a large audience for R-rated comedies at that point; as Lange sadly noted in his book, "Dirty Work" was ultimately moved to an earlier release date in part to stay clear of There's Something About Mary (1998), which was not only an R-rated comedy, but became one of 1998's biggest blockbusters and revived the entire R-rated comedy genre for years to come.

---

Goofs

When Mitch is thrown into a dumpster you can see him running up and jumping off a ramp in the reflection of the dumpster.

---

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.

---

Crazy Credits

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

---

Alternate Versions

When aired on TV (USA Network), there is one difference at the start when he is explaining all he did to get revenge when he was a kid. Instead of saying "We sicced a German shepherd on him, who just also happens to be gay." and then showing a shot of the 2 male dogs 'making love', this TV version just says "Then we sicced a German shepherd on him." and they do not show the explicit shot.

---

Connections

Referenced in Norm Macdonald Has a Show: Chevy Chase (2018)

---

Soundtracks

Burnout
Written by Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool (as Frank Wright) and Mike Dirnt (as Michael Pritchard)
Performed by Green Day
Courtesy of Reprise Records
By arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

The funniest stupid comedy ever made

Though "Dirty Work" is outrageously low-brow, what makes it work is that it's purely ridiculous, and knows it ridiculous. The problem with most stupid comedies is they try to go for legitimate laughs, and simply come off as ridiculous. Anyone who's familiar with Norm MacDonald's brand of humor shouldn't be surprised. If you hate the guy, you probably won't like this movie, as he did co-write the script as well as being the star. So if you're a Norm-hater, you can stop reading this now.

This is one of those movies where no matter how many times I watch it, I'm still able to crack up at the same stupid jokes. There's a ton of lines that I love to quote from the movie. One of those hilarious lines occurs during the "dead hooker" scene. Norm says, "I've never seen so many dead hookers in my life," and a creepy guy in the crowd comments, "Lord knows I have." The Saigon whore line is also hilarious: "And there's the Saigon whore...that bit my nose off! Aaaahhhh!" In the movie, the late and great Chris Farley plays a guy...who got his nose bitten off by a Saigon whore. I know. Pretty self-explanatory. Farley doesn't play a huge role, but he steals the show every minute he's on screen. And of course, there's Norm's great "Maybe you'll feel better after we have some dirty sex" line.

I like Norm MacDonald, because he says the most ridiculous things, but delivers them in almost a deadpan fashion. There are, of course, moments in the film that are just plain stupid. And seeing Rebecca Romijn with a beard is too disturbing for my taste. But the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this stupidly hilarious comedy that I hope becomes a cult classic someday. One thing's for sure: You will never see another movie containing a barfight with "The Pina Colada Song" playing on the jukebox.

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dirty Work

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,634,236, 14 June 1998

Gross USA:

$10,023,282

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,023,282

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Robert Simonds Productions, Brillstein-Grey Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

DTS DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1