Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

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Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sam Weisman
Produced by Adam Sandler
Jack Giarraputo
Fred Wolf
Written by David Spade
Fred Wolf
Starring David Spade
Mary McCormack
Craig Bierko
Rob Reiner
Music by Christophe Beck
Waddy Wachtel
Cinematography Thomas E. Ackerman
Editing by Roger Bondelli
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Happy Madison
Release date(s) September 5, 2003
Running time 98 min.
Country Flag of the United States
Language English
Budget $17 million
Gross revenue $22,734,486
Official website
IMDb profile

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star is a 2003 comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and stars David Spade and Mary McCormack.

Tagline: 50 million people used to watch him on TV. Now he washes their cars.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Dickie Roberts is a former child star who once starred on an eponymous TV sitcom and shot to fame with his catch phrase "This is Nuckin' Futs!" Since his heyday, he has been reduced to parking cars at Morton's and going on Celebrity Boxing, where he gets beaten up by a heavily-tattooed Emmanuel Lewis. From the public's point of view, Dickie is a walking joke or "the washed up actor freak".

Dickie is so convinced that a new Rob Reiner movie in the works, Mr. Blake's Backyard, is his comeback vehicle, not even his agent's (Jon Lovitz) inability to get him an audition deters him. He pesters Tom Arnold at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to hook him up with Reiner. After he is kicked out because he's not an alcoholic, Dickie fakes being wasted and crashes what turns out to be a Lamaze class. However, at the class is Brendan Fraser (in an uncredited cameo appearance), who agrees to call Reiner for him.

Reiner bluntly tells Dickie that the part is not within his abilities because it requires knowing how a regular person lives. Unfortunately, he never had a real childhood, having grown up in the limelight, then being abandoned by his mother (Doris Roberts) when his show was canceled. Desperate to prove to Reiner that he's right for the part, he sells his raunchy autobiography to raise $20,000 to offer a family to "adopt" him for a month. As expected, once Dickie hires his "family," things do not go well as he tries to fit into the household.

Dickie learns much about himself, and life in general, and of course gets the part. Along the way, he helps the family's son get a date with his dream girl, and the daughter get on the pep squad. Nevertheless, the main lesson he learned is from Blake's Backyard itself: sometimes the things you want are in your own backyard. When his gold-digger girlfriend runs off with the self-centered father of his fake family, Dickie gives up the part to be with the family he has come to love.

The movie ends with a faux E! True Hollywood Story report on Dickie, who now turns his real story into a new sitcom that uses all of his old friends, as well as his new family (including the mother, whom he has married). The final scenes are a take-off on Relief albums, this one listed as "To help former child stars". The lyrics include such treats as The Brady Bunch's Maureen McCormick threatening to "bust the fucking head" of the next person who calls her "Marcia" and many in-jokes for fans of old TV sitcoms.

The movie shows Dickie interacting with numerous other fellow former child stars (played by over two dozen actual former stars lampooning their own careers, such as Leif Garrett, Barry Williams, Dustin Diamond and Danny Bonaduce).

[edit] Cast

[edit] Cameos

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Paramount Pictures was sued for trademark infringement and dilution after this film was released. Paramount had not requested permission for using the Slip 'n' Slide in this movie.[1] The lawsuit claimed that the movie, which portrayed unsafe use of a Slip'n'Slide, might encourage others to use it in an unsafe manner.[2] However the lawsuit was dismissed by a California court.[3]
  • In two different scenes, each set about a day apart, all of the characters can be seen wearing the same outfits. First scene-before the 'dance lessons', second scene is when they are getting off the bus the day that Alyssa Milano's character appears.
  • When Heather Bolan (Ashley Edner) finishes her dance routine, you can see her pull her hands out of her hair, but when the next shot cuts to the judges pov she pulls her hands out again.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Finn, Ed (September 10, 2003), Can Wham-O Sue Over Dickie Roberts?, Slate Magazine, <http://www.slate.com/id/2088160/>. Retrieved on 5 October 2007 
  2. ^ Gentile, Gary (September 9, 2003), Slip 'N Slide Use In Film All Wet?, Associated Press, <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/09/entertainment/main572319.shtml>. Retrieved on 5 October 2007 
  3. ^ Umbright, Emily (October 6, 2006), St. Louis-based appliance maker Emerson sues NBC, St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20061006/ai_n16773876>. Retrieved on 5 October 2007 

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Jeepers Creepers II		 Box office number-one films of 2003 (USA)
September 7, 2003		 Succeeded by
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
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