Imagine if you will, an adaptation of The Parent Trap with the queer filth of Pink Flamingos and a script so shocking it could only be directed by Borat’s Larry Charles, and you might begin to understand how Dicks: The Musical was spawned into creation. Always outrageous, and sometimes downright disgusting, this first A24 feature-length musical is not at all one to shy away from the bit.
Based on the original musical, Fucking Identical Twins,Dicks is a reexamination of all that is gross and beautiful when it comes to love. Creators Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson reclaim their roles as Craig and Trevor, two hypersexual and hyper-hetero business bros who become at odds with one another after their respective companies merge, forcing them into rivalry, and oddly…an unnatural chemistry. Instinctively, upon this absurd meet-cute, our two alpha males are drawn to each other by what they can only describe as identical twin telepathy, although they really bear no physical resemblance, but share a comically gay disposition despite their collection of totally straight romps with women. After expressing their vulnerability with one another, they so organically each pull out matching halves of a locket, given to them by their parents after they were separated at birth. And in quintessential Parent Trap fashion, the twins begin a scheme to get their parents back together.
This brings us to the parents, portrayed as none other than broadway legends Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally. This time around, it’s not as easy as Lindsey Lohan switching places with herself to convince her lovelorn parents to go on one last date, as the Dicks parents, Harris and Evelyn are destined for casual sex at best, if even at all. Harris is gay (obviously) and Evelyn’s whole thing is that she traumatized her son one day after her vagina literally detached itself and left her body…so yeah. Lane is absolutely unhinged and hilarious as a man obsessed with rat-like creatures he cares for, lovingly called his Sewer Boys, and delivers a genuinely outstanding theatrical performance. Mullaly is the equal force that pushes the dynamic between the two over the edge, and truly there are moments in song that feel so tender it almost makes you forget that Sewer Boys and vulvas with eyes exist.
The original music in Dicks ranges from odd little numbers about Sewer Boys to a church choir of filth and depravity. But there needs to be something said of the most distinct musical performances, given by Megan Thee Stallion as Gloria Masters in her film debut. “Out-Alpha the Alpha” is performed with the corporate disdain one feels watching below-average men succeed in their field and is accompanied by some jaw-dropping choreography. Without saying too much, Gloria puts her male colleagues in their place and walks them like dogs, and she looks good doing it! Megan adds back some more gen-pop-friendly fun back into a feature that will make you dizzy with perversion.
Dicks is the kind of film we’ll be seeing rise to cult status in a similar way we love the work of John Waters. It’s mostly outrageous to the point laughing so hard you’re crying, or maybe vice versa. The last act is one that will definitely have you raise an eyebrow at it’s complete nastiness, but it really feels like it’s begging you to interact with it like seeing some filthy and late night picture show, Dicks is the kind of film that begs to be booed, because it know it can handle it, and it knows it’s a gross little thing.
Photo courtesy of A24
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