Review: ‘Dicks: The Musical’ is a waste of screen space
‘Dicks: The Musical’ is a bizarre and vulgar picture that disgraces its familiar cast in a twisted version of ‘The Parent Trap.’
Boundaries are a cultural and societal construct that not everyone may agree with, but by which most tend to abide. However, that doesn’t mean people don’t try to push those limits or even break through them entirely, particularly in art. For some, art is seen as a free space where anything is permitted and possible — a place in which taboos can be challenged. However, being extreme or excessive for the sake of it is more exasperating than statement-making. With no substance, it loses its appeal very quickly. This is the case with Dicks: The Musical, which begins well, but goes nowhere.
Trevor (Aaron Jackson) and Craig (Josh Sharp) are both excelling as big-dick-swinging ladies men and the top Roomba parts salesmen in their respective districts — but there’s something missing in their lives. When a company merger brings them together, their competition soon turns to compassion when they realize they are “identical” twins separated at birth by their divorced parents. Wishing to create the family they were denied growing up, they devise a plan to switch places and convince their parents to remarry. However, their parents have developed into very unique people with eccentric hobbies and opposing dispositions that makes reuniting them incredibly difficult.
The film begins by noting it was written by two gay men who will be playing the two straight male protagonists, “which is brave.” The opening scene features each of their o-faces as they have sex with random women, followed by a disproportionately macho song about their hetero lifestyles (successful jobs, lots of casual sex with women and very large penises). This is the primary theme until their parents enter the picture, taking the narrative into even weirder and less satirical directions. Their mother (Megan Mullally) is a wheelchair-bound recluse who’s turned stationary objects into friends and lovers, lamenting the day her vagina “fell off” in song. Their father (Nathan Lane) gives off an air of sophistication, but is discovered to have some game-changing secrets of his own, including a rather disturbing pair that need to be kept in a cage.
At first, one wants to commend the casting of gay actors and icons, but then one begins to wonder what bet they lost to have to be in such a disastrous picture. It’s particularly difficult to watch Lane’s performance, as he’s brought to embarrassing new lows that even he can’t fathom according to the behind-the-scenes moments shown throughout the credits. Only Megan Thee Stallion emerges mostly unscathed, performing a crude yet empowering anthem around the midpoint. The movie takes the approach of a bygone era ruled by John Waters and other midnight darlings, but it quickly trades tongue-in-cheek humour for crass annoyances. Director Larry Charles is not one to shy away from controversial pictures, having collaborated with Sacha Baron Cohen several times, but this one isn’t even up to his standards.
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson and Nathan Lane
