Dickie Roberts - Former Child Star (Widescreen Edition)

Starring:Nicholas Schwerin, Doris Roberts, Dick Van Patten, David Spade, Michelle Ruben, John Farley, Bobby Slayton, Michael Buffer, Fred Wolf (II), Alyssa Milano, Emmanuel Lewis, Joey Diaz, Kevin Grevioux, Brian Clark (III), Leif Garrett, Emily Harrison, Nancy Pimental, Alan Blumenfeld, Jon Lovitz, Sasha Mitchell
Director: Sam Weisman
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

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

Customer Reviews:

This movie is nuckin futs 3/5 stars.......2007-03-11

So david spade is dickie roberts who was a 35 year old former child star that hires a family to help him get back to his childhood to impress rob reiner (as himself) so he will win a role in a movie to go back and impress his real family. Also I don't understand what kind of parents who let an unknown grown a** man share the same bedroom with a little boy and especially a little girl? Not to mention now and days there are millions of child molesters every where. So dickie tries to get into his childhood and the mother and the 2 kids try to help him except the father who is a neglectful father and husband who went for alyssa milano (charmed) which was dickies girlfriend who I thought was the hottest sexy actress in this movie (I would too). Ok the ending was insane dickie and the family ends up I guess on VH1 doing their own shows. I guess dickie ends up marrying the mother of those 2 kids and the father ends up with alyssa milano (what a lucky b*****d!) I would too if I were him LMAO! Well so far I kinda liked it. But it wasn't that hilarious but I give it a little credit especially for alyssa milano.

Reclaiming One's Former Fame.......2007-02-22

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.

Hi-larious.......2006-11-27

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!

Berserk and maybe sick in the head.......2006-08-14

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

Love it.......2006-08-06

This movie is nuckin' futs hilarious! Plus it has real child stars and actors in it; a big bonus :)

Dickie Roberts - Former Child Star (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

This movie is nuckin futs 3/5 stars
Reclaiming One's Former Fame
Hi-larious
Berserk and maybe sick in the head
Love it

Dickie Roberts - Former Child Star (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: David Spade , Mary McCormack , Craig Bierko , Scott Terra , and Jenna Boyd
Director: Sam Weisman
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Slapstick | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Joe Dirt
The Hot Chick
Tommy Boy (Special Collector's Edition)
Starsky & Hutch (Widescreen Edition)
School of Rock (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00015HX5E
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

This movie is nuckin futs 3/5 stars.......2007-03-11

Reclaiming One's Former Fame.......2007-02-22

Hi-larious.......2006-11-27

Berserk and maybe sick in the head.......2006-08-14

Love it.......2006-08-06

This movie is nuckin' futs hilarious! Plus it has real child stars and actors in it; a big bonus :)

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star/Zoolander 2PK

Average customer rating:

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star/Zoolander 2PK
Starring: Mary McCormack , Tom Arnold , Sam Weisman , and David Spade
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00068S3MS
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

This movie is nuckin futs 3/5 stars
Reclaiming One's Former Fame
Hi-larious
Berserk and maybe sick in the head
Love it

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star [Region 2]
Starring: David Spade , Mary McCormack , Craig Bierko , Scott Terra , and Jenna Boyd
Director: Sam Weisman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video