Meet Wally Sparks

Those who don't like insult comedy will probably not enjoy this film, but that is no surprise. What else would you expect from a Rodney Dangerfield film but his rat-a-tat style of humor, with plenty of one-liners aimed at eviscerating those around him? It is probably best to compare this film with some of his other vehicles, like "Caddy Shack" and "Back to School", both of which feature Dangerfield as an irreverent rascal. Both of those films rein in the stand-up patois, keeping the humor on-target and relevant. In "Meet Wally Sparks", the discipline is lax, often inserting zingers just because, sometimes creating situations just to accommodate a punchline.

Dangerfield can portray likable, even lovable, characters. That is when his humor works the best. He is often self-deprecating. But this film makes little attempt to create a character with warmth.

A hefty number of cameos by many in the entertainment industry adds to the fun. But the obligatory mayhem/food fight scene just reminds us that this film could have been better with a script that had more focused humor.

Comedian Rodney Dangerfield took on the topic of shock TV in Meet Wally Sparks. A few sparks a generated, but it helps if you have an appreciation for the Police Academy films to enjoy this film. Which I do somewhat.

Meet Wally Sparks also borrows liberally from the plot of The Man Who Came To Dinner. In this case Dangerfield in the title role becomes the man who stayed at the governor's mansion.

Georgia Governor David Ogden Stiers who slips as neatly into a southern accent as he did a Boston one as Charles Emerson Winchester in MASH is advised that he can score a few cheap political points as a 'family values' candidate by attacking the outrageous talk show host Wally Sparks. Which gets a response from Sparks for Stiers to guest on his show and explain his objections.

Then Stiers's son Glenn Walker Harris, Jr. steals an invite to a campaign fundraiser and sends it to Dangerfield who then comes down to Atlanta and promptly injures himself, necessitating he not be moved from there.

After The Man Who Came To Dinner, the film then digresses into a pale imitation of The Fortune Cookie as it turns out Dangerfield isn't half as hurt as he makes out. All that was missing was Walter Matthau threatening to sue to the state of Georgia. Talk about deep pockets.

The humor is pretty crude, not unlike what you see on these shows. But it's actually done with a gentle hand. There were some lost opportunities in this film to make some valid points. As did those two other far better satirical films which Meet Wally Sparks liberally borrowed from.

Still fans of the late Rodney Dangerfeld will respect the film and will some others, just not enough.

But who cares because, though hit or miss with the jokes, "Meet Wally Sparks" has enough laughs to fill several of today's lame comedy efforts. Rodney Dangerfield cannot be contained with his rapid fire comeback comedy routine, and a loud mouth talk show host suits him perfectly as the ideal outlet for his crass comments. Think adults doing "Animal House", and you will be close to describing this funny film. Lots of cameos add to the fun, with Burt Reynolds especially memorable as Wally's boss and old friend. One thing worth mentioning is that the movie moves quickly from one joke to the next, and thus there are few dead spots. It is also the type of film that gets better with multiple viewings. Recommended. - MERK

Wally Sparks (Rodney Dangerfield) is the loud-mouthed host of a trashy daytime talk show. His boss Lenny Spencer (Burt Reynolds) threatens to cancel the show due to sponsor pressure. He is given a week to change the tenure of the show. He attends a party of conservative critic Georgia Governor Floyd Preston (David Ogden Stiers) which turns into publicity bonanza.

This is pure Dangerfield in his character and the quality of the movies that he leads. It's low brow comedy. He's crass and he's good at it. He remains the loveable everyman. It doesn't really make sense for him to stay in the mansion but making sense is not the highest priority. It has its fun but it doesn't really hold together. It's a bad good bad comedy.

At the movie's start, we see a lot of clips (most of them probably fake) from real talk shows, as well as the vulgar Wally Sparks on his own program that gives the FCC and advertisers nightmares. Jerry Springer comments, "Hey, at least this isn't 'The Wally Sparks Show.'"

The network has finally had enough. It's over, says network head Lenny Spencer. Wally convinces Spencer to give him another chance, saying he will clean things up. Spencer reluctantly agrees.

The idea on how to give the show a fresh image comes from Georgia governor Floyd Preston. The conservative family values advocate has written Wally complaining that this is not the sort of thing his son should be watching. Preston has had a change of heart and wants Wally to attend a black-tie event at his mansion. At least that's what the letter says ... Preston's young son Robby watches the show just to annoy his father, and having Wally actually show up will really get him riled.

The results are hilarious. Not entirely unlike "Caddyshack", a superior film where Rodney Dangerfield shocks the country club set with his crude behavior. And things are about to get a whole lot worse. Furthermore, Preston is trying to get re-elected, and any bad publicity could hurt his chances. Still, he needs to learn to care more about his family, and by the end I think he gets that message. Wally also has problems in his relationship with grown son Dean, but I believe this experience may have helped him as well.

This wasn't Dangerfield's best performance, but he was still quite good. Debi Mazar also did a great job as Wally's producer, and David Ogden Stiers did his usual fine job. Despite his fake accent, I was impressed with Glenn Walker Harris as Robby. He reminded me of Jonathan Taylor Thomas in "Home Improvement", though Thomas is better. Lesley-Anne Down also stood out in one scene as a nurse who wasn't a nurse.

Speaking of fake accents, Mark L. Taylor, as Preston's campaign manager, REALLY overdid it.

This is NOT a film that should be seen by kids. If you are offended by Howard Stern's style of humor, it might be best to stay away. Not that the vulgarity was constant, but it was certainly pushing the limits of what TV allows. I don't know how much was edited out.

The movie had plenty of physical comedy in addition to crude jokes. Most of the pratfalls came from poor network lackey Alan Miller, sent by Spencer to follow Wally and gather dirt on him. Some other highlights included the scene right after Gov. Preston showed off his horse, and the Wally Sparks episode featuring American wrestlers and Sumo wrestlers, in which Wally claimed to speak Japanese (though his translation included the word "Toyota"). And the governor's grown daughter Priscilla was not supposed to come home so early.

There was also a scene reminiscent of "Risky Business". You won't believe who dances in underwear. (No, not him).

Celebrities were all over the place. It added realism to see Jay Leno comment on TV about Wally, though I don't know how good the E! commentators were.

Tony Danza drove a cab! I don't remember his "Taxi" character that clearly but he reminded me more of Tony Micelli than Tony Banta.

I've never seen a worse performance from Bob Saget. How did I ever enjoy "Full House" and "Funniest Home Videos" with him?

I enjoyed the big-band music at the black-tie event until Michael Bolton showed up and managed to do a watered-down impression of Ray Charles singing you-know-what. Bolton is often compared to Kenny G, who may have been doing the music for some of the romantic scenes (I won't say who was romantic with whom). At least it was his annoying style.

If you've never heard Devo do anything but "Whip It", stay around for the closing credits and hear them do Beatnik jazz. They're quite good.

I had a good time. I can deal with naughty humor on occasion.