Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

A thirty-something former child star hires a foster family to re-create the childhood he never had.

Director:

Sam Weisman

Writers:

Fred Wolf, David Spade

Stars:

David Spade, Mary McCormack, Alyssa Milano

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Spade	...	Dickie Roberts
Mary McCormack	...	Grace Finney
Craig Bierko	...	George Finney
Scott Terra	...	Sam Finney
Jenna Boyd	...	Sally Finney
John Farley	...	Referee
Bobby Slayton	...	Commentator
Michael Buffer	...	Michael Buffer
Fred Wolf	...	Dickie's Corner Man
Alyssa Milano	...	Cyndi
Emmanuel Lewis	...	Himself
Joey Diaz	...	Emmanuel's Entourage (as Joey 'Coco' Diaz)
Kevin Grevioux	...	Emmanuel's Entourage
Brian Clark	...	Guy in Car
Leif Garrett	...	Leif Garrett

Storyline

Once, he was on top of the world as a popular child actor on TV. Now, he's Hollywood's punchline about everything wrong with people who were famous as children. All Dickie Roberts wants to do is find that one gig that will restore his honor and everyone's love of him, so after learning that Rob Reiner's making an ambitious new movie destined to sweep the Oscars, Dickie's first in line to audition. He walks out having learned he certainly looks the part but can't act it... yet, owing to his very unusual childhood. To research the role, Dickie embarks on a bizarre scheme to live with a suburban family to see how the average American child lives, having them put him up as their "son". But once his gloves are off, Dickie discovers how great it is to be part of a true family, and whether he gets the part or not, his attempt at method acting will certainly change his life forever.

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Plot Keywords:

marilyn monroe character | hare krishna | children | former child star | actor | 

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Taglines:

50 million people used to watch him on TV. Now he washes their cars.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, language and drug references

Details

Official Sites:

Paramount

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dickie Roberts: (Former) Child Star

Filming Locations:

741 S Hudson Ave, Pasadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,660,540, 7 September 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$22,734,486, 23 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures,Happy Madison Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fred "Rerun" Berry's final film.

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Goofs

Leif Garrett tells Dickie that Reiner's new movie would be similar to when Frank Sinatra had a film career comeback and won the Oscar for "From Here To Eternity." When Sinatra did "From Here to Eternity" his acting career was still pretty fresh and did not do many films in the years prior. So, although his Oscar win was highly impressive, it was not a career revival.

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Quotes

Dickie Roberts: [having cereal] Hey, look, there's a prize inside!
[Gives Grace the middle finger]

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Crazy Credits

About 30 former child stars sing "Child Stars On Your Television" a la "We Are The World".

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Connections

References Celebrity Boxing (2002)

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Soundtracks

Nights Are Forever without You
Written by Parker McGee
Performed by Dan Seals and John Ford Coley
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

I swear it was great, and I have no connection to this production.

It was a hot day and I decided to hit a movie. "Dickie Roberts" just happened to start at the right time for me. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Great script, perfectly cast (especially the kids) and it was really kinda heartwarming.

If you're a pop culture nut, you'll get a big kick outta seeing all the former child stars in the poker scene and then again at the end (stay for the credits).

Spade completely pulls it off. Lovitz is his usual outstanding (but then again I'm a big Lovitz fan).

Go see it. C'mon, go ahead.