From Saturday Night Live to Set It Up to Big Time Adolescence, Pete Davidson's acting career is going from "Is that Pete Davidson is this movie?" to "Pete Davidson's in this movie!" Until now, however, he's played fairly similar characters; they're sarcastic, a little bit bad-boy, and often stoned. On the surface, his next Netflix movie, The Dirt (which gives Mötley Crüe the Bohemian Rhapsody treatment) seems like the perfect vehicle for more of the same. However, his actual role in the controversial biopic is something new: a nerd.
Davidson shows up about 29 minutes into the feature and his wig is...bad. It's so, so bad. He's donned this 'do to play Tom Zutaut, an A&R rep from Elektra records who signs the band. His introduction consists of him attempting to cut the line at a club using stilted and practically sniffled pleasantries. His nervous energy follows him as he sits with the band, refuses a free blowjob, and eventually signs them.
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Without getting too into the weeds, I'll just say that Pete Davidson's acting is pretty much the best of the cast, even if, like a number of storylines in the film, his portrayal of the character doesn't match how things actually went down in real life. The Dirt doesn't reckon with too much of the seedier aspects of the band's legacy, including an alleged rape.
In a chaotic tilt-a-whirl of a movie, Davidson's straight man provides the comic relief — which, as an SNL cast member, is what he does best.
The Dirt is now streaming on Netflix.