Jack Warden

All the President's Men (1976) - 2/5

This is a very boring docudrama about reporters and the Watergate scandal. The pacing is impressively bad, so much so that it’s ubiquitously unclear what key persons of interest mean to the investigation at large, and the goalposts keep moving without resolution. The film seems to think it’s a thriller but has no teeth, even including one confusing jumpscare with nobody there in an empty parking garage. Presumably it may make more sense to someone know knows the subject matter very well, but that philosophy is antithetical to the fundamental concept of filmmaking.

Content warning: language

Closest comparison: It’s like Kill The Messenger by way of ‘Good Night and Good Luck’.

Setting: Journalism
Plot: Investigation
Tone: Drama

Dirty Work (1998) - 2/5

This movie is a pretty standard slacker comedy with Norm Macdonald humor through and through. The comedy is crude, college-style humor which will likely tell you what sort of mileage you’ll get with this movie. It’s main deviation from the formula is a rape joke that lasts a whole scene, which substantially lowers the overall light-hearted tone of the movie.

Closest comparison: It’s like Men at Work by way of Billy Madison.

Setting: Slacker
Plot: Motivational
Tone: Comedy