David Spade made his name as a Saturday Night Live (SNL) cast member in the early-90s alongside the likes of Chis Rock, Rob Schneider, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley, with whom Spade remained close friends and has collaborated frequently throughout his prolific career.

Spade is known and celebrated for his affable and Everyman personality, and while his movies haven’t always been huge hits with critics, who have sometimes labeled him as juvenile or repetitive, he has established a large and loyal fan base, with several of his projects going on to be consiered genuine cult classics. With a career that spans over 30 years, we’ve taken a look back at his filmography and selected his greatest and most enjoyable movies and ranked them below.

7 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

david-spade-dickie-roberts-former-child-star
Happy Madison Productions

With a fun and intriguing premise and a clever array of cameos, it’s unfortunate that 2003’s Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star didn’t quite reach its full potential. That isn't to say it's not a fun ride, and some of the cameos are undeniably entertaining. It follows Spade playing faded child star Dickie Roberts attempting to revive his career. During the process, he interacts with a number of actual child stars including Gary Coleman, Corey Haim, Dustin Diamond, and Corey Feldman. Cameos aside, Jon Lovitz in particular delivers a solid performance as Dickie’s agent. Blending his usual blend of quirky and slapstick humor, with a surprisingly healthy dose of sentimentality, makes this among Spade’s better movies despite it beginning to drag somewhat in the second half.

Related: David Spade Comments on SNL's Cast Exodus: 'It's a Hard Place to Be'

6 The Wrong Missy

david-spade-the-wrong-missy
Happy Madison Productions / Netflix

While not giving fans of Spade or Happy Madison anything spectacularly ground-breaking or different to their usual rambunctious comedy affairs, The Wrong Missy is certainly a solid entry and a worthy addition to this list. This time around, Spade plays a businessman on a work retreat who, in a case of mistaken phonebook identity, accidently invites a woman with whom he had an awful first date to accompany him. After over three decades in the industry, Spade’s humor and personality shine just as strongly, but it’s Lauren Lapkus who steals the show as the zany ‘wrong’ Missy, really showing a side to her that is sure to have audiences eager for more in the future. After appearing in several Happy Madison productions, it’s always a delight to have Mr Rob Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, make an appearance and as usual, he doesn’t disappoint.

5 Grown Ups

The Cast of Grown Ups
Happy Madison Productions

Like many David Spade / Happy Maddison / Adam Sandler movies, the film was not a huge hit with critics, however, box office returns certainly tell a different story, with Grown Ups grossing a hugely impressive $271 million and spawning an equally successful sequel. Spade stars alongside a star-studded cast of frequent collaborators including Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider, who play high school pals on a reunion trip three decades later. While at times it can be argued that the humor is a little juvenile, that shouldn’t be that surprising considering its cast. The jokes come thick and fast, and with a little pathos and sentimentality thrown in for good measure, it’s not impossible to understand why the movie was such a hit in theaters, with audiences looking to switch off and be entertained for 100 minutes or so.

4 Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania
Sony Pictures Animation

The first but not the last animation on the list, this 2012 Adam Sandler-led comedy is chock-a-block full of classic horror tropes, characters, and references. A huge box office hit, Hotel Transylvania proved to be so popular it has since spawned a further three sequels. Kids and parents can expect appearances from beloved horror icons including the Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Quasimodo, a werewolf, and, of course, Dracula. Younger viewers will be dazzled by the frenetic humor and dazzling animations, while adults are sure to get a kick out of the many gags paying homage to classic horror movies in history. Spade plays the Invisible Man alongside a stellar voice cast that includes Sandler, Kevin James, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, and Steve Buscemi.

Related: David Spade Donates $5000 to Burger King Employee from Viral Video

3 Joe Dirt

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Columbia Pictures

Critically panned at the time, Joe Dirt has been reappraised over the years and can be appreciated as one of Spade’s finest moments, providing a silly but fun story that sees the actor in his element as a trashy redneck janitor on a journey to find his parents, but ends up finding himself and a new family of close friends. It’s nice to see Spade fully immerse into a character, especially as he’s been accused as playing it safe in the past. The supporting cast was also impressive and even Kid Rock’s appearance wasn’t terrible. A financial hit, and endlessly quotable, Joe Dirt will forever remain one of Spade’s most memorable moments.

2 Tommy Boy

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Paramount Pictures

The first of three planned movie collaborations between Spade and his fellow SNL cast member Chris Farley. The second was Black Sheep, which couldn’t match the success of Tommy Boy, and the third never came to fruition due to Farley's tragic overdose in 1997. Fortunately, Tommy Boy was a fantastic example of what made the pair work so well together, with their undeniable chemistry in full effect. The film sees Farley playing the titular Tommy, an emotionally stunted young man, who is thrust into a world of business that he struggles to grasp after his businessman father dies. Spade plays it a little more straight as a former employee to Tommy’s father, who begrudgingly finds himself in the role of Tommy’s assistant. Initially, he finds Tommy’s shenanigans and hijinks tiresome, but the two gradually develop a friendship. The movie has since become a certified cult classic.

1 The Emperor’s New Groove

The Emperor's New Groove Kuzco
Buena Vista Pictures

One Disney’s most underrated films, The Emperor’s New Groove sees a spoiled teenage emperor who gets his just desserts when a potion turns him into a llama. Kuzco, the main character voiced by Spade, joins forces with John Goodman’s Pacha on a journey to return to his palace and bring him back to his human form. Their feud turns into friendship, and Pacha’s humility rubs off on the Emperor, teaching him a lesson or two about kindness. The movie is a colorful and often laugh out loud affair with a meta twist and some fourth wall-breaking, which is particularly unusual for Disney animations. Aside from Spade and Goodman’s impressive voice performances, Patrick Warburton is also on top form as he lends his distinctive voice to the antagonist’s musclebound meat-head henchman Kronk, who has become a fan favorite to Disney enthusiasts over the years.