Dicks: The Musical (2023)

Score: 3.5 / 5

How do you "score" a movie like this? It's not in any way conventional, so as to render itself as subject to a rubric. It aggressively eschews -- to the point of deliberate obfuscation -- any semblance of propriety or taste, almost daring us to try and assign a grade or ranking to it. Dicks is the kind of film that just exists for its own sake, with no sticky raison d'être beyond idiosyncratic expression and absurdist comedy. As the first musical film released by A24, we can't really have expected more than that, though I was shocked to learn during the credits that this film is in fact adapted from an Off-Broadway musical. Why did that shock me? Well, the whole damned movie is shocking to say the least, but it's just not the kind of thing you see on stage. Or in most films.

Perhaps for the first time in my life, walking out of the cinema after a screening of Dicks, I was keenly aware that I had just seen a cult classic in its infancy. It's always a bit annoying to call anything a classic when it's brand new, but the viewing experience of this film reminded me so strikingly of a few other experiences that it's all I could say about it. Do you remember the first time you saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show? What about Tommy? Or, for the discerning musical theatre weirdos out there, how about Reefer Madness? Maybe the first time you saw or heard the soundtrack for Evil Dead: The Musical? Dicks has almost terrifyingly similar energy and ideas, and it feels like a shoe-in on the same shelf. A disturbed -- and somewhat disturbing -- experiment in genre and tone that takes gender and sexuality (and, I guess, class, family, and capitalism?), wrings them through genre and narrative tropes, and finally turning them on their heads with postmodern flair.

It's an absolute mess of a movie, with old-fashioned and mostly lo-fi cinematography and editing but enchanting and offensive production design. Costumes are incredible throughout, even though they have no right to be, and hair and makeup must be intentionally bizarre. The music, while largely unmemorable, tends to make fun of music from musicals while assaulting us with uncomfortable and provocative lyrics. Choreography, when it happens, is delightfully earnest despite the deranged lyrics. The performances are universally unhinged and over-the-top; you could call it camp if it was about anything serious, but it's not serious and knows it isn't serious. In fact, the narrative itself is only about half a narrative, and even that is only about half-baked. Think of it more like a 90-minute SNL skit on uppers, that might help you contextualize the energy Dicks is serving.

People will either love this or hate this, and frankly I still don't know if I adopt either extreme. Personally, deliberately vulgar comedy like this doesn't usually tickle my funny bone, especially when there isn't much higher purpose. Absurdism, similarly, I can only take in small doses and usually only in a context that provides me other pleasures (for example, the Gothic and queer elements of Rocky Horror or the Arthurian adventure comedy elements of Monty Python and the Holy Grail). So, in and of itself, I didn't really care for Dicks, apart from seeing Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally absolutely losing their shit and loving every second. But a lot of the "bits" I found deeply satisfying, such as Bowen Yang as God and Megan Thee Stallion's unmitigated banger of a mid-show number. And the fact that a movie like this can exist, and be released theatrically, is so fabulous to me that I have trouble feeling negatively about it. Whereas Sausage Party just wanted to be offensive to anyone and everyone, this at least had the musical theatre element and the gender commentary that kept me going (and it helps that those elements aren't nearly as problematic as they could have been).

All in all, it's a fun time if you're into some trippy cinema. Truly, I felt high after only about ten minutes in, and it doesn't let up until after the credits are done (stick around for some bloopers to ice your cake). And, while the ending is knowingly icky, there is something to be said about its earnest call for tolerance and acceptance and celebrating everyone's self-expression. Who cares who loves whom, who's sleeping together, what we do for work or fun? Just be kind to each other -- don't be dicks -- because we're all just muddling through, after all. Maybe life is only worth living if we have fun along the way.