Dicks: The Musical review

DICKS: THE MUSICAL: 

LARRY CHARLES’ UPROARIOUS MUSICAL COMEDY IS ABSOLUTELY CHAOTIC! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

A24

Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Bowen Yang, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, and Megan Thee Stallion in Dicks: The Musical

 

            In the tradition of raunchy musicals for adults like South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, and The Book of Mormon, director Larry Charles (Seinfeld, Borat, Brüno) grows some balls and does his own take on adult musical comedies in Dicks: The Musical, the very first musical from A24 and based on the off-Broadway musical Fucking Identical Twins by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson. I’ve always admired Larry Charles’ work from his writing on Seinfeld to his collaborations with Sacha Baron Cohen including Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator all of which he directed, so you can bet I was intrigued when his next film, Dicks: The Musical was announced. 

            And boy, this is definitely a movie let me tell you! The best way I can describe it is like a musical version of The Parent Trap mixed with Bros, the shock humor from Borat, and the bizarre visual humor from Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny with the end result being genuinely funny. 

            The film is definitely not for everyone and there are quite a few moments where I could see audiences getting offended by the subject matter and humor. But as someone who watched a lot of South Park, Family Guy, and several Adult Swim shows, not to mention comedies like Borat, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Superbad, and Tropic Thunder as a tween and teenager, I was laughing quite often during my viewing of Dicks: The Musical. 

            The film is set in New York City and follows two business adversaries, Craig and Trevor (Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson in their feature film debut) who realize they’re actually identical twin brothers and that their parents have divorced, and each took custody of one child after they were born. Upon discovering the news, they decide to switch places in hopes of reuniting their parents, Harris (Nathan Lane-The Lion King, The Birdcage, The Producers (2005)) and Evelyn (Megan Mullally-Will & Grace, The Kings of Summer, Hotel Transylvania 2) and becoming a family again…oh, and something to do with Sewer Boys…yeah, that’s a plot-point! 

            The film also stars Bowen Yang (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, The Lost City, Bros) as God, Megan Thee Stallion as Gloria, The late Sonya Eddy (Matchstick Men, General Hospital, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday) as Sonya the Old Lady, Danielle Perez (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) as Danielle the Stooper, and Nick Offerman (Sin City, Jump Street, Dumb Money) as Steve Chaney and features the voice of Tom Kenny (SpongeBob Squarepants, The Powerpuff Girls, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) as one of the Sewer Boys. 

            Overall, Dicks: The Musical is an uproarious and gleefully profane musical comedy that will both offend and make people laugh. As mentioned earlier, this is not a movie for everyone, and your enjoyment of the film will depend on your tolerance for extremely shocking, vulgar, and downright bizarre humor. 

            For the most part I found the movie to be very funny, but I can easily see someone watch the movie, see how certain subject matter is depicted, and get offended by it. Then again, this is a musical comedy from the director of Borat so what did you expect, Les Miserables? 

            The film also isn’t afraid to get weird and there are quite a few oddities during it such as the already mentioned Sewer Boys that Nathan Lane’s character takes care of (And actually have some pretty impressive practical effects and puppetry) to another random character popping up as the film goes on and the film’s completely bonkers ending sequence which features probably the most offensive gag in the entire movie. I have to give Charles, Sharp, and Jackson credit for going all-out with the film’s content and it actually did take me back to my teenage years when movies this shocking and controversial were more commonplace. 

            The performances are very amusing and help balance out all the film’s chaos, Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson especially have a funny dynamic together, Nathan Lane is always a delight on-screen and he has some great moments in the film, and Megan Mullally who I thought was going to get on my nerves as their clueless mother, but she ended up giving some of the funniest lines in the entire movie. Also, Bowen Yang as a scene-stealing comedic depiction of God is almost as legendary as Morgan Freeman from Bruce Almighty. 

            The songs are genuine toe-tappers, and the musical numbers are lively and full of comedic energy with Nathan Lane’s Gay Old Life being the absolute best and likely won’t leave my head anytime soon. The musical numbers themselves sort of have this Book of Mormon or a live-action version of a Family Guy song sequence energy that practically leap off the screen when a character breaks into song and in an age where Disney animated musicals and adaptations of West Side Story and Wicked are the norm, it’s so refreshing to see the cast, crew, and dance performers put all this passion and life into musical sequences that are essentially riddled with vulgarities and topical humor. 

            While Dicks: The Musical may not be one of the all-time greatest musical comedies for adults, I was laughing and tapping along throughout the entire film. It’s definitely an acquired taste and won’t appeal to everyone so I only recommend it to those who have the gonads to handle its hysterical anarchy.