David Spade is a weird entertainer to analyze. He was funny on \Saturday Night Live"" but outstayed his welcome. ""Just Shoot Me"" was funny, then badly outstayed its welcome. The movies he made with Chris Farley were funny, but now with Farley and ""Just Shoot Me"" gone, it's time to see what Spade will make of himself. With ""Joe Dirt"" and now with ""Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,"" the early results are middling at best.
""Dickie Roberts"" focuses on the title character, Spade, a former child star. He has seen his career and personal life deteriorate to the point that he is working as a restaurant valet. When he gets the opportunity to audition for a hot new Rob Reiner movie, he is told that he could never relate to the character because he never had a childhood. In his desperate desire for a comeback role, Dickie pays a family to help replicate the important childhood experiences he never had. As he adjusts to life with the family, Dickie becomes a mentor for the family's children and grows closer to their mother as her husband becomes more distant.
""Dickie Roberts"" is not an entirely unsuccessful endeavor, but it suffers greatly from its unyielding attempt to force Spade into a warm and fuzzy story. For all the dysfunction at the center of the story, there are far too many ""Aw, shucks"" moments. Spade has always been at his funniest when taking on an icy- cold persona and only allowing warmth to come through when drawn out by an irresistibly sweet co-star. That's why he worked so well with Farley. In ""Dickie Roberts,"" the cute or warm moments feel and forced.
Granted, in a movie like this, the plot is just an excuse for the humor, but the humor is very hit or miss here, too. Appearances from real life former child stars like Danny Bonaduce and Dustin Diamond are peppered throughout the movie, for the most part without drawing many laughs. Moments involving the children are often lackluster, either because of poor writing, unusually bad child actors or really creepy sexualization of preteens. Also, in addition to a hacky directing job from Sam Weisman (""George of the Jungle""), the writing is painfully out of touch with today's children. How many 12-year-olds play with He-Man toys and know the words to relatively obscure '70s soul hits?
On the other hand, the movie does have some very funny moments. The sequence of Dickie learning to ride a bike is side-splittingly funny. And during the final credits, there is an inspired and surprisingly catchy ""We Are the World""-style sing-along featuring dozens of former child stars. Jon Lovitz is effective in his supporting role as Dickie's manager. And Brendan Fraser and Rob Reiner both bring their familiar charm in bit parts playing themselves.
In the end, the funniest parts of ""Dickie Roberts"" keep the audience from furiously regretting the price of admission. But we all remember those best moments of Spade's career that make us think he should be doing something better than this; something that isn't so reminiscent of Rob Schneider's worst work. For now, when it comes to David Spade, we have ""Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,"" take it or leave it. The smarter option is to leave it.
