Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Sam Weisman and starring David Spade (who also co-wrote the film with Fred Wolf), Mary McCormack, Jon Lovitz, Craig Bierko, Alyssa Milano, and Rob Reiner.[2] Spade portrays a child actor who fell into obscurity as an adult and who attempts to revive his career by getting a part in Rob Reiner's next film. In addition, the movie shows Dickie interacting with numerous former child stars, played by over two dozen actual former stars lampooning their careers, such as Leif Garrett, Barry Williams, Corey Feldman, Emmanuel Lewis, Dustin Diamond, and Danny Bonaduce. The film also marked Tony Dow and Adam Rich's last feature film before their deaths in 2022 and 2023 respectively, as well as Fred Berry's last feature film to be released in his lifetime before his death less than two months after its release.

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySam Weisman
Written byFred Wolf
David Spade
Produced byAdam Sandler
Jack Giarraputo
Starring
CinematographyThomas E. Ackerman
Edited byRoger Bondelli
Music byChristophe Beck
Waddy Wachtel
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$17 million[1]
Box office$23.7 million[1]

Plot

Dickie Roberts is a very young actor who shot to fame on a 1970s television sitcom called The Glimmer Gang with his spoonerism catchphrase "This is Nucking Futs!". His career subsequently halted in the years following the show's cancellation. Unable to find another acting gig due to his eccentric habits, a now older Dickie has been reduced to parking cars at a Morton's restaurant and appearing on Celebrity Boxing, where he suffers a humiliating first-round defeat to Emmanuel Lewis. In the public eye and to his girlfriend Cyndi, who leaves him on the roadside after a car problem, Dickie is a washed-up loser. After talking to his old friend Leif Garrett, Dickie is absolutely convinced a new Rob Reiner movie in the works titled Mr. Blake's Backyard will be his comeback. Even after his agent Sidney Wermack fails to land him an audition, Dickie persists. While on duty at Morton's, he joyrides in a customer's vehicle and drops into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where he pesters Tom Arnold to connect him with Reiner. After he is kicked out as he's not an alcoholic, Dickie fakes being drunk and mistakenly wanders into a Lamaze class Brendan Fraser is taking with his wife. Fraser finds Dickie's entrance to the class hilarious and ridiculous and agrees to help him out by calling Reiner on his behalf. Reiner bluntly tells Dickie that the part is not within his abilities because it requires knowing how a regular person lives. Unfortunately, he didn't have a normal childhood (he grew up in the limelight, and his emotionally abusive mother Peggy abandoned him once he stopped earning money). Desperate to prove to Reiner he is right for the part, Dickie manages to sell his raunchy autobiography for $30,000. With the money, he pays a family to "adopt" him for a month to properly prepare the role. Once Dickie hires his "family", things get off to a rocky start, as George, the bread-winning father, insists that they need the money, despite the reservations of the other family members. Grace, the mother, comes to pity their new "son" and gradually provides him with surrogate guidance. Dickie begins to realize a lesson he read in the script for Mr. Blake's Backyard: "Sometimes all of the things you need are in your own backyard". Dickie learns much about himself and life in general and begins to act less immaturely and more as a third parent. He helps the son Sam secure a date and helps the daughter Sally join the pep squad. Cyndi returns to him, and he even earns the admiration of George, who turns out to be inept at fidelity. Sidney lands an audition for Dickie by donating one of his kidneys to Reiner after the director is savagely beaten by a psychotic driver whom Dickie provoked while unknowingly driving Reiner's vehicle. Dickie gets the part, proving that "In Hollywood, sometimes your dreams can come true...again". After learning that George ran off with Cyndi, Dickie gives up the part to take George's place with the family he has come to love as his own. An E! True Hollywood Story story on Dickie, aired not long after, reveals that Dickie has since started his own sitcom starring all of his old friends, as well as his new family (including Grace, whom he has married). The closing credits are a send-up on Relief albums listed as "To help former child stars" and includes many references to old television sitcoms where Dickie, Leif, their mutual friends, Florence Henderson, Marion Ross, and other former very young stars sing "Child Stars on Your Television".

Cast

Former child star cameos

"Child Stars on Your Television" song

Dickie's friends

Production

Fred Wolf and David Spade originally wrote a skit in the '90s for Saturday Night Live about a child star rampage, spoofing The Silence of the Lambs, for when Macaulay Culkin was hosting, but it was cut. The idea was later pitched to The WB, but they turned it down. After receiving a script from Tommy "Winfidel" McNulty called Child Star; about a Child Star trying to win a girlfriend without writers, or a stuntman with the same first act used in this film, Fred decided to change the second and third act and steer the storyline into something less realistic where a family agrees to allow a stranger access to their children. Once the second and third act was written this movie, originally written as a dark comedy was made into the beautiful bomb that it is. Sally's "Brick wall, waterfall" routine was something Jenna Boyd was doing on the set between takes. The filmmakers liked it and worked it into the script – twice. The crew built an actual treehouse in the back yard of the house used for the exterior scenes of the Finney's home. The real homeowners liked it so much, they requested that the producers to leave it up after filming.

Lawsuit

Paramount Pictures was sued for trademark infringement and dilution after this film was released. Paramount had not requested permission from Wham-O for using the Slip 'n Slide in this movie.[3] 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.[4] The lawsuit was dismissed by a California court.[5]

Reception

Box office

Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star earned $6.7 million on its opening weekend.[1] It went on to gross a worldwide total of $23.7 million against a production budget of $17 million.[1]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on reviews from 121 critics. The site's consensus is: "A so-so David Spade comedy with a few laughs."[6] On Metacritic the film has a score of 36% based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F.[8] While critics generally agreed that the premise had potential and appreciated the involvement of actual former child stars, reactions to Spade's humor were mixed, and the attempts to make the film genuinely uplifting and sentimental in its second half were seen as contrived and unnecessary. Roger Ebert gave the movie two-out-of-four stars, noting "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star has a premise that would be catnip for Steve Martin or Jim Carrey, but David Spade (who, to be fair, came up with the premise) casts a pall of smarmy sincerity over the material", but added Lovitz was "pitch perfect" and the cameo appearances were enjoyable.[9] Joe Leydon of Variety wrote: "Offers a largely satisfying mix of broad slapstick, seriocomic sentimentality and mostly amusing satirical thrusts at easy targets."[10] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter gave it a mixed review: "Generally succeeds -- in hit-and-miss fashion -- at bridging the gap between unlikable jerk and misunderstood good guy, though it's still something of a leap to leading-man territory."[11] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review: "This sleek and sunny comedy is an all-too-rare example of smart and inventive Hollywood filmmaking."[12] Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle gave it a positive review, praising the writing saying the film "rises above mediocrity with a steady stream of offbeat humor, as writers Spade and Fred Wolf stubbornly avoid the easy jokes throughout the film." He is also positive about the many cameos and says the film "is elevated from decent to good in the last five minutes, during a hilarious "We Are the World"-style medley among child actors and their parents."[13]

References
  1. "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  2. "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on April 21, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  3. Finn, Ed (10 September 2003). "Can Wham-O Sue Over Dickie Roberts?". Slate.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  4. Gentile, Gary (September 9, 2003). "Slip 'N Slide Use In Film All Wet?". CBSNews.com. CBS. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  5. Umbright, Emily (6 October 2006). "St. Louis-based appliance maker Emerson sues NBC". St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian. Archived from the original on 24 January 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  6. "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
  7. "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star". Metacritic.
  8. "Movie Title Search: STAR". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2019-08-09.
  9. Ebert, Roger (September 5, 2003). "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star movie review". Chicago Sun-Times.
  10. Leydon, Joe (1 September 2003). "Dickie Roberts – Former Child Star". Variety.
  11. Sheri Linden (2 September 2003). "Dickie Roberts". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2003-09-07.
  12. Kevin Thomas (5 September 2003). "He was a star once; can he be again?". Los Angeles Times.
  13. Hartlaub, Peter (5 September 2003). "'Roberts' a fit for Spade / Better-than-average writing, cameos lift genre movie". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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