Larry Charles’ “Dicks: The Musical” successfully kicked “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” out of the top spot for the gayest musical ever. Unlike its counterparts, “Dicks” finds a way to appeal to Gen Z in a funny, relatable way. It’s the perfect mix between a classic movie musical and a raunchy comedy. The characters make you ask yourself, “When does it stop?”
After discovering that they are identical twins separated at birth, Trevor (Aaron Jackson) and Craig (Joshua Sharp), who have been coworkers and neighbors for ages, decide to parent-trap their divorced parents. Each wears a terrible wig to look like their counterpart, and goes to the opposite parent to convince them to get back together with the other. Dressed as Trevor, Craig meets his mother, Evelyn (Megan Mullally), only to find out she is in a wheelchair and fornicates with sand. Meanwhile, Trevor, dressed as Craig, meets his alcoholic father, Harris (Nathan Lane), who comes out as gay, making the twins’ plan to parent-trap their parents unlikely. Yet that does not stop the boys from trying to get what they want.
The physical comedy in the show is the driving force behind the many gasps within the audience. The absolute outrage in every scene leaves audiences laughing uncomfortably through the entire hour and 26 minutes. The world is narrated by God (Bowen Yang), who leaves the audience comforted by his feelings about the LGBTQ+ community. The film represents God as an active voice throughout the story and doesn’t fall into homophobic tropes to get a laugh out of its audience. As a matter of fact, God condemns homophobia.
Trevor and Craig manage to hold the audience’s attention in this world of strange gayness, not only with the show’s writing but with line delivery. The musical numbers are not only catchy but also hilarious. There is no time to breathe during this entire film as the jokes keep coming — the bit never ends.
Gloria (Megan Thee Stallion), the alpha CEO for the company the twins work for, steals the show every time she is on screen, especially during her jaw-dropping musical rap number “Out Alpha the Alpha.” The empowering hit will unironically be the new misandrist sex-positive anthem everywhere. Gloria brings down men inspiringly, while addressing real-world issues in a male-dominated workplace.
Harris and Evelyn portray a perfectly fundamentally flawed couple. Perhaps it’s Evelyn’s exaggerated pauses between words or her neverending quirks that make her character so loveable, or maybe it’s the copious amounts of wine that Harris consumes at entirely inappropriate times. Either way, it makes the audience understand why these two didn’t see separating the twins at birth as borderline emotional abuse. Their extremely flawed characters explain why the twins ended up like they did. There is no question of how their parents can support their abominable decisions.
Overall, this wildly unsettling film becomes a story about how even the most dysfunctional or unconventional people can become a real family without fitting into societal norms. The lengths the boys go to create the family they so desperately desire brings them to an almost childlike state. These authentic and emotional moments are matched by satirical lines like “I want to be brothers no homo,” but they are not completely hidden. This comedy has heart and soul behind all of its goofiness and shows us how gross love can be.
But alas, love is love — I guess.
Contact Noelle Henderson at [email protected].
