"Dicks: The Musical" is a fever dream of hilariously weird and out-there choices
“Dicks: The Musical” is now a cinematic experience that exists in the world; more than a movie, it’s a state of mind. Completely on its own raunchy, bonkers wavelength, A24’s first low-budget musical is something else and unlike anything else. Based on Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp’s two-person Off-Broadway musical “Fucking Identical Twins” and written by Jackson and Sharp themselves, this is a fever dream of choices so weird, filthy, and out-there. Oh, and it’s directed by Larry Charles (most notable for “Borat” and “Brüno”), so you know there’s no top that’s too over-the-top.
Jackson and Sharp star as Trevor Tittle and Craig Brock, the titular dicks who don’t learn until adulthood that they’re identical twins (“fucking identical twins!”) separated at birth. They’re both narcissistic alphas who have also been working as competitors at the same sales company, and they’ve been living right next door to each other all along in 69A and 69B. Trevor is close with their kooky, lisping mother, Evelyn (Megan Mullally), whose vagina has fallen off (naturally), and Craig with their father, Harris (Nathan Lane), who’s “as queer as a three-dollar bill.” Both parents are lonely, so their dick-ish sons hatch a plan: get Mom and Dad back together, “The Parent Trap”-style. The only difference is that Susan and Sharon (Hayley Mills) or Annie and Hallie (Lindsay Lohan) never had to do the things that Trevor and Craig do.
Is “Dicks: The Musical” a great musical? Well, it depends on your definition. It takes maybe ten minutes to know whether or not you’re on board, and what the movie lacks in polish makes up for in sheer go-for-broke chutzpah. Director Larry Charles wrangles his cast as best as he can and somehow keeps up the energy for an in-and-out 86 minutes. No one in the cast is phoning it in here but fully committed to the bit, and the bit is as unapologetically ridiculous and tasteless as it sounds — and then maybe even more so. There’s even the introduction of The Sewer Boys, deranged mutant puppet creations who remain in a cage and get fed ham by their human daddy, but just don’t ask. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com
Grade: B
A24 released "Dicks: The Musical" (86 min.) in theaters on October 20, 2023.
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