Dicks: The Musical - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

When it comes to movie genres, the musical has got to be one of the trickiest to pull off, at least with much success. The art of combining music, signing, dancing, choreography and lyrics into a narrative feature film in a way that flows naturally within the context of the movie is a skill that very few possess. And whether the songs and dances are even any good is another matter entirely. The new musical comedy from A24 called Dicks: The Musical is a spectacular success of ridiculous raunchiness and plays out like the most twisted version of The Parent Trap you can imagine. I kid you not when I say this is not only the funniest damn film of the year, but there’s a couple scenes that hit so hard I’m surprised I didn’t give myself a hernia from laughing so much. While a few of the jokes are specially tailored for the arthouse and cinephile audiences, there’s plenty of crude and uncouth, Family Guy style humor served up for general audiences, platter after platter. That being said, this won’t be one to throw on with grandma and grandpa in the house over the holidays, unless they’re the coolest grandparents ever. Despite the name, you should give this movie a chance, there’s about as much fun as you can have with a moviegoing experience this year. You’re bound to have a ball riding these Dicks and the insanity of The Musical numbers is to die for in this new comedy.

SYNOPSIS - This exercise in musical vulgarity begins with some audio of monks chanting while some onscreen text informs us, “The following film was bravely written by two homosexuals, the first time gay men have ever written anything.” We then hear voiceover from God (Bowen Yang), who’s dressed in matching sparkling shorts, open vest and a chauffeur’s hat that look like a disco ball threw up all over them. God informs us, amongst other things, that we’re in New York City, population of one hundred, a land of CEO’s, VIP’s and STI’s. But from there the film jumps right into it’s first musical number that is exactly what you’d expect from a film with this title, two gay men are playing straight men as they have sex with women and then sing about how big their genitalia is. God informs us that the two men that our story is about are in fact twins, identical twins, and because we’re not inclined to believe him based on their appearance differences, God tells us to fuc* ourselves. We first meet Craig (Josh Sharp) and subsequently Trevor (Aaron Jackson), as we see the backs of naked ladies riding them, then the camera moves over the top of them and pans down to avoid any sensitive female areas but we get to see the two men’s clownish O faces. By now if you haven’t gotten the tone of extreme, over the top obscenity that this film is going for and figured out whether it’s for you or not, well, I’m not sure what to tell you. Speaking of over the top, the name of the first musical number is I’ll Always Be On Top, where besides the sexual innuendo running amuck, they brag about being rich and successful salesmen at the company they both happen to work for where Gloria (Megan Thee Stallion) manages.

As we continue to learn about these two brothers, via another song, we discover that these twins were separated at birth, today is the day they finally meet each other and discover they were born on the exact same year, same day, only one minute apart. Once they clue into the fact that they are brothers, they are immediately intrigued as to why their mother and father, whom they’ve each never met the other’s parent, split up and kept them from each other. So Craig goes to meet his eccentric and neurotic mom, Evelyn (Megan Mullally), who, the longer Craig spends with her, begins to sputter out completely nonsensical things about herself. In the meantime, Trevor goes to meet his father Harris (Nathan Lane), a seemingly chic and well put together man, until the revelation that he’s housing a couple of pets he refers to as his “sewer boys”, which I will not get into detail about here. This is about the point when things tip over and you see the film’s absurdity is going completely off the rails. But once you’ve bought in that this is where we’re at, some of these plot points are absolutely bonkers funny. After a couple more songs the boys reconvene and recognize that they would dearly love it if their two certifiably need-to-be-in-a-psychiatric-facility parents, would get back together and be one big happy family again. There’s not really any need to explain further, what I’ve described up until this point is as much as you’d need to hear, either this movie will work for you, or it won’t. But for those that get a kick out of some quirky and crude humor, this film absolutely slaps.

Firstly, to give credit where credit is due, this screenplay by Sharp and Jackson is top tier comedy. While the paper thin plot is in place simply to allow the hilarity of some of these songs and musical sequences to shine through, there can be no denying how well thought out some of the musical numbers are and some of the humorous moments that land so hard. Granted, some of these bits, jokes and songs are simply there for the shock value, leaving you reeling and saying, “I can’t believe they went there”, over and over again. But some of the plot points about sewer boys and flying vaginas are so insane and ridiculous that you have to wonder what the people at A24 were smoking when they greenlit this movie. As far as the direction from Larry Charles, it’s perfectly adequate, but it’s clear that the two creative minds behind the script and starring in the film are the reason it finds success. The two leads, Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, are not the greatest dancers ever, but they’re both extremely talented comedians and deliver some of the expressions and line deliveries that just slay. Nathan Lane too is his usual hilarious self, although this film pushes his craziness limits. Stay during the credits for an outtake with him that is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. When it comes to the production budget for movie musicals, this is simply not one of the upper tier films as most of the dance productions, like the one at Craig and Trevor’s office, are kept relatively simple. The modest sets are matched by the dancers and choreography which aren’t always in complete synchronization. But little of this matters, we’re not here for Moulin Rogue, we’re here for a good time, and if there’s one thing this film delivers on, it’s exactly that.

SUMMARY - The bottom line is this was the funniest film of the year for me and although it won’t necessarily make my favorite films of 2023, it is my favorite comedy. If the insanity of what I’ve described sounds like it might be your cup of tea, don’t be afraid to pay for some good Dicks: The Musical.