The independent film distribution company A24 is not one to shy away from controversy in promoting its movies. Audience-baiting titles like Men and Beau is Afraid turned heads, while titles like X and Zola combined some of the most provocative elements of cinema into one feature. Dicks: The Musical trumps everything they have released for sheer offensiveness, and if you missed its shocking run in theaters, you can now safely and privately gawk at this madness from home.
‘Dicks: The Musical’ Plot Summary
Helmed by Borat director and Seinfeld writer Larry Charles and penned by the two stars, Dicks: The Musical follows Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson’s off-Broadway musical through the tumultuous and heartfelt journey of two identical twins separated at birth who try to Parent Trap their divorced parents. For this quartet of heathens and oddballs, reuniting and finding themselves in the process will take a hilarious scheme.
A Major Warning to the Easily Offended
The marketing for Dicks: The Musical makes sure you know before going in: this new A24 movie is crass, graphic, and offensive for the sake of offensiveness. Though audiences who grew up with the over-the-top post-millennial zaniness of South Park, Superbad, and Larry Charles’ Sacha Baron Cohen collaborations might feel right at home, even they will not leave the viewing without a gasp or two. Given A24’s record for pushing boundaries and elevating the indie film world, many prospective viewers wondered if watching Dicks: The Musical would be worth the endeavor, and it ended up as a bit of a box office failure after a relatively limited release.
Now that you can see it at home, those looking for morbid curiosity will likely be satisfied with the sheer ridiculousness of Dicks: The Musical. Anyone looking for a story beyond an already-thin ripoff will get nothing but disappointment, though the appalling ending fits right in line with the rest of the film. No sensitive folks already upset by A24’s brand need to venture here. Dicks: The Musical is the next level of South Park-style music, gross-out humor, and winking parody, with even the red-band trailer not fully revealing just how wacky and messed up this film gets.
Josh Sharp, Bowen Yang, and Aaron Jackson in ‘Dicks: The Musical’ / A24
Cameos, Excess, and Immaculate Indie Production Keep Things Afloat
On the whole, Dicks is not a great movie. This film is purely for a quick laugh to appease the right kind of viewers with tastes deep in the gutter. Dicks does have some artistic value (akin to, say, an immature drawing of genitalia presented among museum gallery pieces); however, its face value comes through in well-produced songs and economic sets that look staged just enough to make it like its musical origins. Familiar faces surround the leading newcomers Sharp and Jackson, including hilariously over-the-top supporting turns from Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally and small showings from Bowen Yang, Megan Thee Stallion, Nick Offerman, and Tom Kenny (the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, who here voices one of the Sewer Boys).
Even if the film drags in spots, looks too corny or too ridiculous in others, and Megan Thee Stallion only appears in two scenes, Dicks: The Musical hits the intended vibe for the right audience. If you can stand it to the end without forcing yourself through, you are probably the type to be laughing the whole time. Any potential message about misogyny or homophobia may not come across with any meaningful impact, but the joy of adult comedy never gets lost on these two fresh creators.
Dicks: The Musical is streaming now on Max.
