By Geno McGahee

You can’t expect much from a David Spade movie, but I decided to not change the channel when this came on. I sort of liked TOMMY BOY and Spade can be funny from time to time, especially when in comparison to the other SNL people of that time.

The movie is about Dickie Roberts (Spade) a former child star that had his show cancelled and he has since struggled to make it in the world. He does menial jobs, but still has that hope that he will be able to land again in the public spotlight. The problem is his social skills. During his acting career as a child, he never really had a childhood and doesn’t deal with people that well.

When an opportunity arises to land a big role, Roberts decides to relive his childhood by moving in with a family. The mom, Grace (Mary McCormack) and her two children, Sam (Scott Terra) and Sally (Jenna Boyd) are not too receptive to him intruding into their home, but their money-hungry father, George (Craig Bierko) wants the 20 G’s that Roberts offered.

Roberts befriends the kids, helps them with their problems and becomes part of the family. This is sort of like HOUSEGUEST with Sinbad, but not nearly as good. What, do you have a problem with me because I’m a Sinbad fan? The guy is a comedic genius!

The movie is very predictable and soft, but it’s not unwatchable. The sarcastic nature of Spade is on display and he is funny from time to time. At one point, an old fan asks for a picture and he takes the guy’s camera and puts it down the front of his pants and takes several photos of his junk. Another time, he flips off two twelve year olds and calls them “tubby,” which was rather amusing too.

DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR is a tribute to the old child stars and they do all get together for a music video like We Are the World at the end, which was somewhat amusing. The movie is fluff, but it’s much better than I expected. It’s one of those innocent family movies…with the exception of the F bomb from Maureen McCormick at the end. I do recommend it if you are looking for something light and something that you can watch with your kids or those that are easily offended like overly religious people.

Rating: 5/10 – Far better than I expected…