Synopsis for
Dirty Work (1998) More at IMDbPro »

Growing up, friends Mitch Weaver (MacDonald) and Sam McKenna (Lange) "don't take crap from anyone", as Pops McKenna (Warden) taught them. To that end, they get a bully arrested for (planted) gun possession, and catch a kiddie-fondler in the act (with glue).

The film then cuts to their adult lives. After losing 14 jobs in 3 months and getting dumped by his girlfriend, Mitch moves in with Sam and Pops, who then has a heart attack. Even though his heart is failing, the gambling-addicted Dr. Farthing (Chase) will only raise Pops on the transplant list if he is paid $50,000. To raise money, Mitch and Sam get jobs in a movie theater with an abusive manager (Rickles), and exact their revenge by showing "Men In Black (Who Like To Have Sex With Each Other)" to a packed house. The other workers congratulate them and tell them they should open their own business.

Mitch and Sam open "Dirty Work", a revenge-for-hire business. They exact increasingly lucrative reprisals for satisfied customers until they interfere with unscrupulous local property developer Travis Cole (McDonald). Cole tricks them into destroying "his" apartment building, promising to pay them enough to save Pops. Afterwards, Cole reneges, revealing that he is not the owner. However, the grandmother of Mitch's new girlfriend Kathy (Howard) lives there. Unknown to Cole, Mitch's "note to self" [1] tape recorder captures this confession.

Mitch and Sam plot their revenge on Cole, using the tape to set up an elaborate trap. Using skunks, an army of prostitutes, homeless men, a noseless friend, brownies with hallucinogenic additives, and Sam's father, they ruin the opening night of an opera sponsored prominently by Cole. With the media present, Mitch plays back Cole's confession over the theater's sound system. Cole sees that his public image is being tarnished and agrees to pay the $50,000. In the end, Cole is punched in the stomach, arrested and jailed, his dog is raped by a skunk, and Mitch gets the girl. Dr. Farthing overcomes his gambling habit but is beaten to death by bookies anyway.