Dicks: The Musical

Grade: B

A couple hours after taking in Dicks: The Musical, something occurred to me. There’s no reason for it to have that title, other than shock value. It really has little to do with any definition of that word, be it a penis or a mean person. But it’s part of the off-color, wacky random fun that Dicks shoves in our face.

The movie is an adaptation of an off-Broadway musical with a title containing a word I’d rather not print here. Writers Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp also star here as Trevor and Craig, two top salesmen for their company. The film begins with them meeting for the first time and discovering they’re twins, separated at birth and each left to grow up with one of their parents – with each brother never having met the other’s parent. Their introduction to each other is a scene that I found clunky and confusing. They touch the same elevator button, and there’s a weird visible electric current. I thought something supernatural had happened, and this would be a switched-body movie, like Vice Versa or Like Father, Like Son. It took me a few minutes to realize that they’re still them, and then they get on with it.

They hatch a plan to meet their respective unknown parent, disguised as the other brother – and set up a dinner date at the same time and place. Mom and dad would each think they were just meeting their son, only to find one another there instead. They’d talk, spark the relationship back up, and ultimately bring the family of four together at last.

You are bound to laugh frequently. Dicks: The Musical is chock full of great lines and gags, that it’s tempting to quote a few of them. One brother’s reaction to the unveiling of his father’s beloved pets provided me with my biggest laugh of the year. Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally are appropriately energetic and over-the-top as the parents. They say and do some things that are definitely new to them, even with their careers. The music is just ok; I won’t be rushing out to get the soundtrack. Plus, with how visual so many of these bits are, just listening to the songs might feel limp and unfinished. You really need to SEE it too. I know two-part harmony has done its job if I can’t tell which person is singing what part. Sharp and Jackson are impeccably tuned in to each other with their duets. It often sounds like one voice.

Certain people might be offended or caught off guard, too. The movie lost me a little bit, with a late plot development that made me feel uncomfortable and squirmy. You don’t see something like this often, and I give Dicks credit for having the balls to explore it and tackle some hard questions. The message I got was “If we all need to be tolerant of this thing, shouldn’t we also allow this other thing, too?” It’s an interesting thought to chew on, and as I’ve said before, if you’re rubbed the wrong way by something, that at least means it made you think, right? That it’s from Larry Charles – the director of Borat, Brüno, and The Dictator – does not surprise me one bit.

Is Dicks: The Musical for you? I’ll give you a hot tip: Dicks will be well-received by those who enjoyed Theater Camp. At just 86 minutes, the length is very manageable. They would make a fun double feature at the cinema. After the warmup of Theater Camp, take an intermission, maybe order up a stiff cocktail, and finish off the evening with the latter.

Grade: B