Joe Dirt

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Joe Dirt is a 2001 film staring David Spade as a mullet wearing janitor who's invited to be on a talk show, initially to be made fun of. However he begins recounting his life story and the movie showcases his journey to find his parents as he narrates, meeting a host of oddball characters along the way.

Not one of Spade's better films, but a pretty good comedy nonetheless.


Tropes used in Joe Dirt include:
  • All Girls Want Bad Boys: Joe plays this up for one girl (Jamie Pressley).
  • Awesome McCoolname: Joe suggests that Kicking Wing changes his name to "Kicking Ass". Dirt would've done the same.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Joe does this to his parents when he questioned them how long they'd actually been searching for him before they'd given up thinking he was dead, and how long they'd been driving home from the Grand Canyon before they'd realized he wasn't in the car. The answers? They never searched for him, and they knew he was gone the whole time; they abandoned him.
  • The Chew Toy: Almost everyone, for some reason, feels compelled to beat him up, mock him, and tell him he's worthless.
  • Cool Car: Joe's Hemi
  • Determinator: Joe Dirt himself. "You can't have 'no' in your heart. Life's a garden -- you dig it, you make it work for you!"
  • Disney Death: Joe sees Clem's body about to be taken to the ambulance. He tells him he's sorry for causing his death, but at least he's now with his deceased wife. He starts talking about how much he loved his wife, which is giving Clem a boner! It turns out Clem faked his death in order to relocate again.
  • Driven to Suicide: Joe was about to jump off a bridge after learning that his parents never cared about him at all, feeling that he truly is worthless.
  • Fingore: Jill, losing her fingers to an alligator. Fortunately, she still has her ring finger when Clem proposed to her.
  • Here We Go Again: Joe finds his old house, only to learn that his family moved away some years ago. And now, he's right back where he started.
  • How We Got Here: A majority of the story is told by Joe talking about his life on a radio program.
  • I'm Melting: Joe and Kicking Wing discover an atom bomb and decide to shoot a Roman Candle at it. It explodes, and the charred remains shaped like Kicking Wing catch on the wind and blow away. It's a hallucination Joe has when he stumbles and hits the back of his head on a rock. And the "bomb" is really just an old septic tank that someone put a biohazard sticker on.
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY"

Joe: Comin' in to work. Joe Dier-tay.
Security Guard: Don't try to church it up son, don't you mean Joe DIRT?

  • Jerkass: Almost everyone to Joe. Especially Brandy's ex-boyfriend.
  • Kick the Dog: (As well as literally shoot it)
  • Magical Native American: Subverted with Kicking Wing
  • Mysterious Past: Clem. He is in the witness protection program, hiding from mobsters who killed his wife. Upon his first introduction, he accidentally slips about his life, which Joe caught notice.
  • Never Live It Down: In-universe, after being abducted by "Buffalo Bob", everyone asks Joe if he was harmed in certain ways, even though nothing terrible really happened.
  • Noodle Incident: Joe's abduction by Buffalo Bob is assumed to be much, much worse by everyone who brings it up to Joe.
  • One-Liner, Name. One-Liner.

Zander Kelly: Welcome home, Joe. Welcome home.

  • Parental Abandonment: Joe's parents "accidentally" left him on a trip to the Grand Canyon. Even when they realized he wasn't in the car, they didn't bother to turn back to get him.
  • Quip to Black: When Joe is trapped in a hot-air balloon for a local dentist's shop with no way to control it, he shouts, "Hey, boss! I'm going on break!" when it drifts away.
  • Roadside Wave
  • Shoot the Dog: Poor Charlie...
  • Surprise Incest: Joe briefly thought a girl he slept with at a carnival was his sister.
  • This Is My Story: Joe tells his life story in Zander Kelly's radio show.
  • Timmy in a Well
  • True Companions: Joe eventually settles for this with Brandy, Clem, Jill, and Kicking Wing.
  • Walking the Earth: Joe, in his journey to find his parents.
  • Was It All a Lie?: Brandy told Joe that his parents died years ago. Later, after finding out they're alive and uncaring, Joe asks why she lied about his parents. She did it to protect him because they were horrible people.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Joe's little sister who kept calling him "Joe Dirt" non-stop.
    • Clearly the girl from the carnival was mistaken.