Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

David Spade embodies Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star with the snide, glib, and bored attitude for which he is loved by his fans. Dickie, whose mother abandoned him in his youth when his TV show was canceled, yearns to regain the spotlight. But he can't get a promising role because the director believes that Dickie isn't a real person; so, to find his real self, Dickie hires a family to give him the childhood he never had. Dickie Roberts has some scattered laughs, but the writers have no better grasp of reality than Dickie himself; the "normal family" Dickie hires is as warm and glossy as any TV clan. A busload of real former child stars play exaggerated versions of themselves, but the result is more uncomfortable than satirical. However, if you want to see David Spade imitate a jet-ski, this is your movie. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

A little (ok, a lot) predictable but still delivers the laughs...

David Spade's signature apathetic sarcasm gets my funny-bone every time. I find his comedic style hilarious. I think it's the tone of his voice, the way each comment rolls out of his mouth with this tinge of arrogance that makes him one of the funniest comedians working today. Even when his films are ridiculous and utterly pointless (which, honestly, a lot of his films are) he is still on point and delivers the goods. In `Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star' he fails to disappoint yet again, serving up one hilarious gag after another. While there are parts of `Dickie Roberts' that don't fit for me, as a whole I actually think this comedy works rather well. Sure, Spade has a lot to do with that, but plot wise too; it's actually quite an interesting concept.

The story is that of Dickie Roberts, you guessed it, a former child star. Now all grown up and feeling the after effects of fame gone `bye-bye', Dickie strives to once again capture the hearts of the American public. The only problem is that Dickie didn't have a normal childhood. He was famous at a very young age, abandoned by his mother after his show was canceled and thus doesn't know what it's like to be a normal person. That drawback makes it impossible for him to land any substantial parts because he can't play `normal'. So, to fix this problem he does something so very un-normal and hires a family to `his' family so that he can get a feel of what it's like to be a normal kid. That said family is the Finney's; George and Grace and their two kids Sam and Sally.

It's apparent right off the bat that, while the Finney's are kind of storybook they still have some real problems; clichéd problems if you will. George is a workaholic who has become disinterested in his wife; Grace is the kindhearted `golden' mother, the kind that Dickie didn't have; Sam is the nerdy kid who's bullied at school and Sally is the slightly obnoxious little girl who has a heart of gold.

A lot of what happens in `Dickie Roberts' is predictable if not a little `out there' but it's all presented in a way that makes it easy and fun to swallow. A lot of the gags are delivered effortlessly and are quite entertaining (the whole `demon rabbit' scene alone is worth the price of the DVD) and Spade is always one to keep his dialog (no matter how dense) fresh and funny (it's all about delivery).

David Spade really understands Dickie mostly because I think there is a lot of Spade in Dickie. Mary McCormack is beautiful and sincere as Grace, but there are some issues I have with her character (mainly the whole `Dickie likes Grace, Grace likes Dickie' thing). She's the picture perfect mother, and she is one major cliché, but she makes it work the best she can. Scott Terra and Jenna Boyd do a fine job playing typical kids, if not a little exaggerated and Craig Bierko is pretty good as the very unlikable father George. Alyssa Milano is hilarious as Dickie's ex-girlfriend Cyndi and John Lovitz continues to get laughs as Dickie's hard working agent.

The ending is very `Hollywood' but what else did you expect; you could guess the ending from watching the trailer. I still give it a solid three, three and a half stars. It serves up the laughs, plenty of them actually, and never grows stale. With cameo's by a slew of former child stars not to mention some pretty famous faces, `Dickie Roberts' is funny, witty, entertaining and all around enjoyable. April 2, 2008

Strong at scattered points, but SO formulaic at others

By no means is this a good movie, but it is very funny in a few places. The plotline is really so simple to see coming that you can put your brain on auto-pilot and do something else such as long form income taxes or double-check the math on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and not really miss too much.

However, the scene in which Dickie finally gets it is sweet and Spade makes it work - so a one-star movie gets an additional star.

The poker night scene with Dickie and 5 other former child star actors (Screech, Leif Garrett, Greg Brady and others) is pure comic gold. One additional store for the total score of 3 stars. July 28, 2007

Reclaiming One's Former Fame

In DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR, David Spade took an idea he originally had for a Saturday Night Live sketch that never aired and revamped it to portray the title character, Dickie Roberts, a child star of a family sitcom in the 1970s who entered the phrase "Nuckin' Futs" into the American lexicon. Dickie's success kept him from having even a semblance of a normal childhood and after the sitcom ended, he soon found himself down and out and unable to get cast in any worthwhile projects. Dickie Roberts was just another child actor whose life became tainted by his former celebrity. In his mid-30s he finds himself parking cars and competing in a "former stars" wrestling event just to pay the bills. Dickie learns about a project, a movie, that he believes will help him re-launch his career. The director thinks Dickie might be good for the role, but doesn't think he can relate to normal people. Desperate to win the role in the much covenanted film, Dickie hires a family, the Finneys, to expose him to everything he missed out on in his childhood. Mother Grace (Mary McCormack) isn't very excited about the venture, but Dad George (Craig Bierko) won't look a money-making opportunity in the mouth. As for kids, Sam (Scott Terra) and Sally (Jenna Boyd), they aren't very happy at first about the arrangements either. However, mother and children are able to overcome their initial hesitation and reluctance and find in Dickie a companion soul that's really just looking for the family love he never received while growing up. Yet, even though the Finneys appear to be a normal family, they have problems of their own, problems that become exasperated by Dickie's presence. Dickie has to decide to continue in his research or to help heal the wounds of his hired family.

Child actors have an incredible difficult time in life when they grow up. Most grow up secluded from the world outside of Hollywood and by the time their shows are cancelled or they are no longer cute enough to be cast in movies, they usually have a difficult time adjusting to a world without fame. It's a sad commentary about the evil of show business.

Yet, it's also an area that was ripe for being parodied. I just wasn't sure David Spade was the right guy to do it. After all, since the death of his partner in comedy, Chris Farley, David Spade has become an actor that tends to be more grating than he is entertaining. He's made a few bearable movies since Farley passed away, such as JOE DIRT, but for the most part he has ruined every project he has starred in, e.g. 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER. Of course, Spade does have a very fast and witty charm to him that ended up making him perfect for the role of Dickie Roberts.

The movie has a few clichés, yet it's basically a homage dedicated to all the former child stars of Tinseltown. The movie parodies their lives, yet gives them a portion of dignity, too. That's not to say the movie is all social commentary and not funny, because there are some very funny parts. It's just that the movie comes off as being more of a humorous movie of affection rather than a disrespectful laughing shamefest.

Overall, I liked DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR. It was a better movie than I thought it would be and wasn't as disrespectful as I had been led to believe. Oh, and make sure to watch through the credits because there are some very funny bits that follow. February 22, 2007

Hi-larious

This movie is hysterical! I do like Spade, and I loved Joe Dirt, so I gave this a viewing, even though I had heard it wasn't that good. (Actually, the story line is very similar to Joe Dirt...loveable loser searches for something to fill the void/complete him, and comes up a bigger winner than he could have ever imagined.) I actually saw it for the first time on a cable movie channel, and I wish I had seen it sooner! There are so many hilarious one liners tossed about in this movie, and Spade's delivery on those snarky one-liners is impeccable. So much of the comedy is not in what's being said, but how it's being said. This is not a change-the-world type of movie, but if you're looking for a light-hearted comedy with some heart, this one will deliver. Oh, and the end song "Child Stars On Your Television" during the credits is aces! November 27, 2006

Berserk and maybe sick in the head

The fate of child stars is pathetic, especially if their parents are not there to make them accept that they have to grow up though they haven't had a real childhood. The film shows this dilemma in the grown-up former child star with simple signs, like the gloves he is wearing all the time. But how can such a grown-up who has had no childhood learn what it is to be a child ? The film is rather hilarious even if at times it is a little bit gross. It also reflects a little bit on what kind of straight jacket society imposes onto children, particularly about the famous four-letter words, forgetting that « nucking futs » are immediately translated by all kids in what they really are. At times though the humor of this film is a little bit simple like a grown up man in a perambulator. Why not in diapers ? Would you really let a grown man sleep in the same bedroom as an eight year old girl and a twelve year old boy ? Or maybe both of them slightly older ?

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne
August 13, 2006

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