For all of the
grief that Adam Sandler receives for the films he stars in, 2015 was a fairly
decent year for the actor. The sequel to the 2012 animated film, Hotel Transylvania 2, broke records at
the box office for Sony and Sandler, becoming the highest opening weekend of
the actor’s career. And while both Pixels
and Ridiculous 6 were overwhelmingly
deemed failures by critics, even these have bombs have silver linings. While Pixels did not make what was anticipated,
it isn’t nearly as large of a financial upset as every other Sandler live
action released in recent years. And regardless of how terrible the experts may
agree that Ridiculous 6 is, it has
still managed to become the most streamed film within the first 30 days of
being released on Netflix.
Unfortunately
for filmgoers, Sandler’s minor victories in 2015 are matched by failures even
greater than the ones he stars in. Along with Pixels and Ridiculous 6,
Sandler’s production company Happy Madison had two other unwanted releases this
past year, both of which being sequels that audiences never asked for. These
included Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,
which made the original look like a masterpiece, and Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, tying as the worst titled sequels of
the year. Joe Dirt 2 was created for
release on Crackle and called the first “made-for-digital” film, and perhaps
fittingly feels like the type of film made with the laziness of those aware it
would mostly be viewed on cell phones.
Fifteen years
after the original film, the story of Joe Dirt has barely moved forward. While
he has married Brandy (Brittany Daniel) and has three little girls, Joe is
still lacking confidence in himself. There is still a local stud hoping to
steal Brandy away from Joe, and he must find a way back to his lifelong love
after extreme circumstances separate them. Many of the original characters even
return for brief cameos in a futile attempt to recapture what little charm the
first film had, but even Christopher Walken and Dennis Miller can do nothing to
save this atrocious script from David Spade and Fred Wolf.
As unclear as Ridiculous 6 is as a spoof of classic
westerns, Joe Dirt 2 appears to be
parodying both The Wizard of Oz and Back to the Future when our hapless
protagonist is swept up by a tornado and sent back to 1965. At first it appears
that Joe’s interaction with Brandy’s mother (also played by Daniel) may have an
effect on the future, though this plotline is dismissed without reason as Joe
continues through time. Despite the fact that Joe doesn’t age at all, he
continues through future until reaching the moment when he met Brandy in the
first film, providing the ‘what if’ alternate timeline that time travel
narratives are known for.
Joe Dirt 2 is the paint-by-numbers of
filmmaking, hitting all of the expected points and indulging in jokes that feel
nearly compulsory. Sandler may have been correct in assuming that the audiences
for his films are more likely to watch from home, which he proved with the
success of Ridiculous 6 on Netflix,
but even this streaming service is somehow still too good for Joe Dirt 2. Even on the free streaming
service of Crackle, I have a hard time recommending this sequel to the biggest
fans of the original. It may not cost any money to watch Joe Dirt 2, but everyone’s time is worth something and if you are
over 15-years-old, it is likely your time is worth more than this film.
The Blu-ray
release offers an extended version of the film, just to offer something
different from the free version available online. This is also all there is to
make up for the fact that no special features are included.
Entertainment Value:
3.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
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