David Spade is the type of comedian who can be either really funny or really annoying. I was pleasantly impressed with his last movie, "Joe Dirt," so I decided to give this one a try. The first 30 minutes are quite funny, and I liked the little parody of "E! True Hollywood Story." It starts out with some pretty funny satire about child stars who grow up and become nothing but has-beens. I also liked the "Celebrity Boxing" scene between Dickie Roberts and Emmanuel Lewis. Unfortunately, once Dickie moves in with the new family, the comedy all goes downhill. That's when Spade goes overboard with his annoying, smart-aleck humor. After that point, I only remember laughing a couple times. Once was when Dickie was watching a dance recital by a little girl, who's an adversary of the little girl he's living with and mutters under his breath, "Slut," after she leaves the dance floor. Another was when he confronted the neighborhood bully, who's really fat, and said, "How much do you weigh? 2,000?" And of course, there's the predictably feel-good moments that you'd expect in a dopey comedy of this type. However, I must say that the film ends with a bang, with a hilarious musical number featuring all the has-been TV stars of the past, including Todd Bridges, the three brothers from "The Brady Bunch," and Rerun from "What's Happening?" So as agonizing as this film gets as it goes along, please stay for the closing credits.
My score: 3 (out of 10)
My score: 3 (out of 10)