“Dicks: The Musical” Review
Craig (Josh Sharp) and Trevor (Aaron Jackson) play two long-lost twin brothers who seek to reunite their family in “Dicks: The Musical,” the first musical film from iconic studio A24.
Note: Anyone who’s never seen “Plan Nine From Outer Space” or “Ed Wood” probably won’t understand the first paragraph of this review.
Greetings loyal reader. I know exactly why you’re reading this review of A24’s first musical film. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, the unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, I am bringing to you the full story of what happened on that fateful day I saw the film. I am giving you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony of the miserable soul who survived this hilarious ordeal. The incidents, the places, the Sewer Boys. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Let us punish the guilty; let us reward the innocent. My friend, can your heart stand the shocking facts about “Dicks: The Musical”?
With a studio as prestigious as A24, there certainly has been a lot of hype amongst cinephiles like myself for their first musical film. Will it be strange enough, will it be challenging enough and, most importantly, will it be entertaining enough? The answer is a resounding yes. “Dick: The Musical” is not only a masterfully transgressive comedy but it also showcases just how zany and bizarre a film can be with fantastic direction by Larry Charles and a well-written musical odyssey by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp.
In New York City, Craig and Trevor (Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson) are two “typical” alpha-male salesmen who see the world as their oyster and who take whatever they want. After being transferred to a new branch of their company which sells Roomba parts (yes, just the parts for Roombas), they find themselves in fierce competition with each other for sales only to realize that they’re actually “fucking identical twins” (just go with it). With their newfound brotherhood established, Craig and Trevor move on to the most logical step, to reunite their parents (Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane) a la “The Parent Trap.” However, these two brothers might just discover that the only true family they needed was with each other.
Based off of the off-Broadway show “Fucking Identical Twins,” which was written by Jackson and Sharp along with the script for this film, “Dicks: The Musical” is so gleefully content with existing as this bizarre creation. You can’t help but admire everyone’s commitment to a story that is so insane that I’m convinced that the entire cast had a court-ordered stay in Bellevue when the shoot wrapped. As these starry-eyed and vulgar protagonists, Sharp and Jackson bring this fresh-faced likability to their misogynistic, idiotic characters. Before the film even starts, an opening title proudly announces that Sharp and Jackson are gay in real life, making their over-the-top acts of heterosexuality in the film all the more hilarious.
Along with Megan Thee Stallion as Craig and Trevor’s no-nonsense boss Gloria, who of course gets a fantastic musical number, and Bowen Yang of “Saturday Night Live” fame as God (yes, the God), just when you think that the film can’t get any more crazy, “Dicks: The Musical” continues to surpass itself. But it’s Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane who really stand out as the insane parents of our hopelessly naive main characters. From the songs they sing to their weird mannerisms to the natural humor they bring to the film, Mullally and Lane easily steal the film.
With award-winning legends like Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane giving it their all, “Dicks: The Musical” is full of big energy.
When I say their mannerisms are weird, I’m not talking about the charming quirks you’d see in Wes Anderson’s characters. I mean that these characters are downright demented. Mullally’s character uses a wheelchair even though her legs clearly work. There’s no reason for this woman to be in that chair whatsoever. So why does she and also have a lisp voice? I don’t know. I stopped brining logic into this film after I was one minute and 27 seconds in. As for Lane, he cares for these disgusting mutants called the Sewer Boys, brought to life by amazing puppeteering, and loves them just as much as his own children. Let’s keep in mind that, in a Tony-Award winning musical and the film adaptation of said musical, Lane played a theater producer that put on a stage musical about the joys of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich. “Dicks: The Musical” is somehow stranger than that. However, in one of the more logical portions of the film, Craig and Trevor rightfully point out that the whole scenario of “The Parent Trap” is borderline child abuse. Finally, someone said it.
With this being A24’s first musical, not only is it especially unique but these song-and-dance numbers are pulsating with infectious energy. The goofy dancing, the vulgar yet inventive lyrics and the the sheer scale of the production all lend themselves towards a musical film perfect for fans of cult classics like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”, “Phantom of the Paradise” and “Cry-Baby”.
Director Larry Charles was certainly a massive reason I saw this film in the first place. Not only is he the man behind films like “The Dictator” and “Borat,” but he’s also responsible for writing some of my favorite episodes of “Seinfeld” including “The Limo”, where the gang wind up in a limo with George being mistaken for a neo-Nazi leader named O’Brian, and “The Fire”, where Kramer gives one of the funniest monologues I’ve ever heard regarding the fate of his friend’s pinkie toe. As director, Charles uses all of his comedic wizardry to rally his actors around this depraved story and, while doing so, proves to be just as skilled as ever at transgressive comedy not that there was any doubt.
“Dicks: The Musical” is consistently funny to the point where I had trouble breathing. As someone who appreciates cinematic insanity, this film is the kind of unhinged comedy that I can’t help but love and admire. However, if you aren’t a fan of sexuality, vulgarity, depravity or anything sacrilegious in the films you watch, then this is probably not for you. However, if you’re cool or just really love the musical stylings of one Nathan Lane, then “Dicks: The Musical” is going to put a big smile on your face. This is not trying to be a crowd pleasing film but is instead trying to hit the audience that loves to see the perfect midnight film with a bunch of friends and have, to quote “The Flintstones”, a gay old time.
In all the years I’ve been studying film, I’ve watched a lot of weird shit over the years. I’ve seen David Lynch interogate a monkey. I’ve seen Elton John wearing gigantic stilts while challenging The Who’s Roger Daltry to a pinball game. I’ve even seen Christopher Walken use his armpit to fart “The 1812 Overture” in front of a bunch of anthropomorphic bears. So it takes a lot to really surprise me. “Dicks: The Musical” took me to a place that I didn’t even know that film could take me. A place where all societal convention was non-existent. There is no good. There is no evil. There is only Nathan Lane and his Goddamn Sewer Boys.
