September 8, 2023
Review Roundup: 'Dicks: The Musical' Wows in Toronto Debut
READ TIME: 9 MIN.
The opening night of the 48th annual Toronto Film Festival ended in happy chaos well after midnight. That was when "Dicks: The Musical" screened as part of TIFF's "Midnight Madness" section, and madness did ensue, enhanced by inflatable beachballs and penises dropped on the audience.
The film from comedians Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp stars Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Bowen Yang, and Grammy-winner Megan Thee Stallion. It is set to be released in theaters on September 29.
Watch the trailer.
According to a report in Broadway World, the film "is based on Jackson and Sharp's stage show, 'F*cking Identical Twins,' which loosely follows a 'The Parent Trap'-style plot. The movie follows two business competitors who realize they're identical twin brothers. In an attempt to reunite their divorced parents, the two decide to switch places in hopes of becoming a family again."
The A24 release features original songs by Jackson, Sharp and their composer Karl Saint Lucy. The film is directed by "Borat" director Larry Charles.
Here are a sample of early reviews:
Rolling Stone, David Fear
"Based on Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson's underground two-person stage show – literally underground, as they performed it in the basement of a New York City grocery store – 'Dicks: The Musical' does its absolute best to live up to its name. (Their project played for downtown audiences as 'Fucking Twins: The Musical,' and the new "tamer" title somehow makes it feel more gloriously obscene.) A genuinely screwy take on 'The Parent Trap,' the story of two alpha-male salesmen who discover they're long-lost identical twins who were separated as kids, and then strive to reunite their now-geriatric divorced parents, goes to great lengths to be viewed as the most offensive movie-musical of all time. Until someone brings 'The Book of Mormon' to a multiplex near you, it comes close enough to temporarily earning those bragging rights. Whether the duo and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'/'Borat' director Larry Charles' screen version works on any other level is debatable, and you can feel it straining to hit the levels of delirium that'd make it the cult-classic cock of the town it so desperately hopes to be. But it won't stop until it puts the hard back into "hard-R raunch-com" or die trying..."
"The midnight moviegoers ate it up, and the sheer pandemonium of hearing a crowd roar to, say, a vagina with stalk eyes flying in to save the day is better than nothing. You can't accuse 'Dicks: The Musical' of phoning in a half-assed take on material that demands you bring the big-dick energy or GTFO. But there's a big difference between being loud and rude and being hilarious, cutting, or even clever. The movie keeps it up for a good long while. It could just use a few more inches."
Variety, Peter DeBruge
"The absurdist brainchild of Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, 'Dicks' is an unapologetically puerile, hard-R novelty that's just lo-fi enough to maintain its underground cred. If any other distributor were backing it, 'Dicks' might shrivel into home-video obscurity. Considering A24's bizart-house cachet, however, the hipster boutique should be able to leverage the buzz from the movie's opening (mid)night berth at the Toronto Film Festival – plus the legitimizing involvement of real-deal Broadway stars Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane – to box office success..."
"Then again, gutter-minded as the movie can be at times (that's literally where the action winds up, before getting vulgarly literal about the two-man show's original "Fucking Identical Twins" title), there's some pretty shrewd cultural satire woven throughout. As the brothers' empowered female boss, Megan Thee Stallion puts the two players in their place with "Out-Alpha the Alpha," one of more than half a dozen original songs written for the feature. Historically speaking, "Dicks" is not only A24's first musical, but it's an even more brazenly queer studio comedy than last year's "Bros" (even if it's "All Love Is Love" number feels like a step backwards)."
"Conservatives are sure to object to Yang's irreverent deity, who rocks bleached hair and booty shorts, like he's emceeing some kind of circuit party in the clouds, though it's no worse than the 'South Park' movie's take on Satan. To get offended is to miss the point in a film that pokes fun at practically everything, including A24's recent Oscar glory, as its douchebag heroes walk out of a movie called 'Everyone, Everywhere Cums at Once.' Good luck to anyone who tries censoring the movie for airlines or television. For maximum delight, 'Dicks' really ought to remain uncut."
Mashable, Caitlin Welsh
"Before 'Dicks: The Musical' unfurls its fucked up version of 'The Parent Trap,' three title cards give this raunchy song-and-dance fest some context. It was written by two gay men, who are playing straight men in the movie, and yes – the title card informs us – that's 'very brave' of them."
"It was at this moment I thought I might just love this movie. At first glance 'Dicks: The Musical' might look like a bro-down between two misogynist ladies' men who discover they are long-lost twins. But it's actually a merciless and maniacal parody of the kinds of fratty comedy that treat women as nags, T&A, or punchlines. That's not all, either. On top of mocking that arguably cringe corner of straight culture, "Dicks" goes hard at satirizing queer culture, looping in musical theater, f-bombs, multiple sex montages, and sewer boys...."
Collider, Ross Bonaime
"You know what you're getting yourself into when you go see a movie called 'Dicks: The Musical.' It's the type of film that elicits giggles before you walk into the theaters. 'One ticket for "Dicks," please,' alone makes the title worthwhile, a childish gag that is impossible to avoid. It's a fitting title for the film adaptation of the musical 'Fucking Identical Twins' from writers/stars Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, and it's a title that this film absolutely lives up to, as its lead characters scream and brag about their genitalia and prowess in the bed right from the beginning. And while 'Dicks: The Musical,' from "Borat director Larry Charles, is often funny in that abrasive, adolescent humor sort of way–and intentionally so–it mostly forgets that being loud and crude usually isn't as funny as being clever...
"But despite flying vaginas, songs about being blessed between the legs, and about as many 69'ing jokes as humanly possible to cram into a movie, 'Dicks: The Musical' hits a weirdness plateau a bit too early. As the film falls more into the 'Parent Trap' narrative, it starts spinning its wheels, relying on the same types of jokes that lose momentum with every retelling. With a comedy musical of this tone, 'Dicks: The Musical' needs to continuously push the limits for this concept to work throughout..."
The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Roxborough
"'Dicks – The Musical,' Charles' adaptation of the off-Broadway musical 'Fucking Identical Twins' by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, was the perfect film to kick off the section, said Kuplowsky, because it is a film 'where love is love and dicks are dicks!'"
"Sharp and Jackson reprise their roles in the film version, as two business adversaries who realize they are actually long-separated identical twin brothers. 'Parent Trap'-like, they decided to reunite their divorced parents – played, phenomenally OTT, by Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane –so they all can become an actual family again. Bowen Yang and Megan Thee Stallion co-star..."
"The Midnight Madness fans were ready to oblige. The crowd at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto whooped and hollered throughout the screening, breaking into spontaneous applause multiple times, including at a showstopping number by Megan Thee Stallion. At the closing credits, rainbow-colored ballons beach-balls, and at least one man-sized inflatable phallus, fell from the balconies above, making the screen feel like a rave."
IndieWire, Marcus Jones
"Ultimately, the biggest stars of the night may have just been comedians Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson, alongside Emmy-nominated actor Bowen Yang, premiering A24's 'Dicks: The Musical,' which kicked off TIFF's Midnight Madness slate. After a musical preamble from programmer and Midnight Madness host Peter Kuplowsky, the trio shared they had only gotten a SAG waiver the day before the screening..."
"Similar to last year with the premiere of 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' being a surprise hot ticket, and eventual People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness winner, 'Dicks: The Musical' had an epically long line to get in, filling the Royal Alexandra Theatre to the brim. Little did anyone expect just how far the film they were seeing was willing to go."
"No amount of context can prepare folks for the film's final number, with a chorus that refers to God as a slur. The song that leapt from the screen out into the audience, with a flash mob of chorus members jumping out their seats to sing along, and pride balloons and penis inflatables dropping down onto attendees."
