There isn't a single glimmer of intelligence in Dirty Work. It's a must-miss movie. [13 Jun 1998, p.C6]
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What are critics saying?
San Francisco Chronicle by Bob Graham
Dirty Work was directed by Bob Saget, who always seemed slightly embarrassed by his enormous success as the host of America's Funniest Home Videos. Now he's got something else to be slightly embarrassed about.
Entertainment Weekly by Bruce Fretts
Norm Macdonald proves himself to be the new Chevy Chase by following up his ”Weekend Update” stint with Dirty Work, a smug, unfunny feature flop.
Highly reminiscent of Kingpin in its willingness to try anything for a laugh, Dirty Work is a shameless and sporadically hilarious comedy about two thirtysomething underachievers who start a revenge for hire business.
Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector
The pranks are as bland as Macdonald’s demeanor, which is supposed to subvert expectations about the role of the straight man in a comedy duo; the subjects of running gags range from anal rape to anal rape.
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Macdonald is unaccountably bland here, which is unexpected since his lo-level, monotone snottiness is usually at least good for a grin or two. With Dirty Work though, he's fashioned an 80-minute harangue out of 10 minutes of material, an SNL sketch gone horribly awry, and one that drags on long after its daily ration of humor has been exhausted.
If a great movie is one with two great scenes and no bad ones, then Dirty Work is half a great movie. It contains more than its share of bad scenes, but it does have two brilliant ones.