‘Dicks: The Musical’ Movie Review: Megan Mullally Steals the Show In A Consistently Hilarious Yet Increasingly Grating Concoction
Photo from A24
From Joe Peltzer
Vacillating between uproarious humor and grating ridiculousness, Dicks: The Musical is an 86-minute self-aware laugh fest that becomes increasingly exhausting.
Based on the off-Broadway musical Fucking Identical Twins from the stars and writers of the film Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, the story follows two men (Sharp’s Craig and Jackson’s Trevor) who hatch a plan to reunite their parents (Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane) after discovering that they are twins separated at birth. Dressing as the other, each twin attempts to woo their parents into a surprise meeting with the goal of reuniting the family. Borat’s Larry Charles directs, though where that film had a contained singular vision that allowed the irreverent humor to soar, Dicks: The Musical is a manic presentation of maximum stupidity crushed into a low-budget cinematic musical.
Sharp and Jackson are charismatic leads who consistently present with a queer undertone. Their exaggerated performances are intentional, though distracting throughout. I found it hard to like either of them, though the absurdity coming out of their mouths hardly ever didn’t draw a laugh, whether earned or out of pity. The two carry the early songs which are fine as is the rest of the soundtrack; not much is memorable from the soundtrack save for Megan Thee Stallion’s hilarious, show-stopping “Out-Alpha the Alpha.” Think Book of Mormon-level profanity, but for profanity’s sake without the charm and obvious direction. The fact that the producers of The Greatest Showman are behind this is wild.
Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane are the standouts here, each giving 110% to their farcical characters and stealing the show when given the screen time. Mullally, best known for her high-toned Karen Walker from Will & Grace, here speaks with a strong lisp that threatens to be distracting, but is ultimately endearing. She is the perfect person to play such a kooky role, especially one who has lost a certain female bodypart. Opposite her is Lane with an off-the-rocker bonkers performance as a Queen man that has him literally spitting chewed up ham into the faces of The Sewer Boys, two creatures his character discovered in the sewers of New York City. It’s always fun to see a renowned actor just let loose; the outtakes make it clear that Lane was very aware how insane everything is.
The Sewer Boys may best represent the preposterous nature of Dicks: The Musical. The puppets are the epitome of silliness, glaring outcasts in a film that is all over the tracks. My key issue with the film in general is that it is a shallow concoction that is inconsistent in both pace and story, the third act nuking any momentum it had for shock value (the hilarious Bowen Yang is God and a very edgy song emerges). The finale song “All Love is Love” is a baffling conclusion given the events of playing out.
I’m all for filmmakers having fun when putting their visions on paper and ultimately taking them to the screen, but it’s unclear exactly what Sharp and Jackson were going for here besides shock value. From the undercooked songs to a script that is all over the place, not to mention the cheap set pieces, Mullally and Lane are the life rafts for a fun, but otherwise forgettable Dicks: The Musical.
Rating: 2/5
Dicks: The Musical is now playing in select theaters and will expand nationwide on October 20th, 2023.
