Dance Flick
Sarcasm is no longer the lowest form of wit - that dubious honour is now reserved for the Wayans brothers and their idiotic brand of big-screen lampoonery, which began with the Scary Movie series and reaches a creative nadir with Dance Flick.
Sarcasm is no longer the lowest form of wit - that dubious honour is now reserved for the Wayans brothers and their idiotic brand of big-screen lampoonery, which began with the Scary Movie series and reaches a creative nadir with Dance Flick.
Damien Dante Wayans steps behind the camera, working with a leaden screenplay co-written with uncles Keenen Ivory, Shawn, Marlon and Craig, who all appear in forgettable supporting roles with their sister Kim.
This latest foul-mouthed spoof takes pot-shots at Make It Happen, Save The Last Dance, Step Up, Stomp The Yard and other sharply-choreographed fantasies - and misses every single target.
Humour doesn't have to be sophisticated to be funny - a polished pun can elicit just as much laughter as a well-timed fart gag - but it does require a modicum of relevance and intelligence.
Both are absent from the script, which is crude, lazy and uninspired, poking fun at the musical Hairspray simply by including an overweight character called Tracy Transfat (Chelsea Makela).
A single mother reads a book entitled Britney Spears' Guide To Parenting and gushes, 'This book is soooo good', and a throwaway nod to vampire romance Twilight sees one character glitter for no discernible reason in the moonlight.
If President Obama wants to be elected for a second term, his manifesto should include a law to ban every member of the Wayans clan from penning another script.
The limp plot follows talented ballet dancer Megan (Shoshana Bush) as she pursues her dream of auditioning for the prestigious Juilliard School.
Megan moves to a performing arts high school, where she befriends single mother Charity (Essence Atkins).
Tensions flare when the new girl falls head over heels in love with Charity's brother Thomas (Damon Wayans Jr), who is a member of a street dance crew under the thumb of overweight gangster Sugar Bear (David Alan Grier).
Meanwhile, Jack (Brennan Hillard) struggles to come out to his basketball coach father, and bitchy student Nora (Christina Murphy) discovers that her perfect dancing partner is the hunky janitor Tyler (Ross Thomas).
Dance Flick marks a new low in Hollywood comedies, mocking characters because of their weight, skin colour and sexuality.
The cast look like rabbits caught in headlights as gag fall flat again and again and again, with the brilliant Amy Sedaris reduced to an excruciating bit-part as ballet teacher Ms Cameltoe.
For their piece de resistance, the Wayans give Jack his own song and dance number: an offensive and crass reworking of Irene Cara's disco classic Fame.
'Flame! I wanna be gay forever! I will always love guys!' trills the effete teenager, cramming every conceivable negative stereotype into two minutes of whooping and twirling.
The Wayans should be ashamed.
So should audiences who validate such blatant homophobia with laughter.
Release Date: Friday 21 August 2009
Certificate: 15
Runtime: 83mins
