It's been a while since a Wayans family movie has been in theaters. It's been even longer since one of their movies has been worth watching. But the latest try is a trip back to the roots of the family, parody of movies that are in themselves a joke.
The latest movie, Dance Flick, looks to take on the flood of films that are more or less spontaneous dances strung together by the loosest and most trivial of plots. Films of this genre includes Stomp The Yard, Save the Last Dance, You Got Served, Flashdance (ok that one actually had a plot of some sort, but it's older than most of the audience going to movies this summer), and so on. So we would expect that this Wayans project should be an easy target, and far more entertaining than the movies it parodies.
From the trailer we can see that like all parody films it's hit and miss. But I think it's hitting more often than not. All the elements look to be in place. The dumb street guys. The 1 educated street kid. The White girl trying desperately to be accepted by Black kids she has no connection to. The general void of intelligence by anyone under the age of 72 in these films. And so on.
The baby popping out and striking a pose is cute, and way over the top. The scene bending Flashdance into a quasi-homoerotic experience is spot on. And the Black kid denying any connection to the White girl is priceless in its mockery of reality and these movies at the same time.
Perhaps the biggest clue to the potential success of this film is the fact that the whole family of Wayans are on board. Damien is directing. Keenan, Damien, Shawn and Marlon wrote it. Yes Marlon and Shawn are in the film. Thus fears of another Little Man exist. But this film also has Keenan, and sister Kim as actors. Add to that David Alan Grier and you have a solid cast of comedy standard bearers. If they appear in more than 1 or 2 scenes. Oh, it also has Chris Elliott in it, another mark against the film if he is in more than just 1 scene.
This will also be the first film for Damon Wayans Jr. Considering the ability of Damon the elder, and the tutelage of everyone in the family (except Marlon and Shawn) this should be a big break-out film. It may also be why the whole troupe is showing up (though Damon Sr. is not - but that may just be because he didn't want to give his son gitters). And Damien Wayans will have this film as his first motion picture debut (though his credits include work directing his uncle Damon Sr. on My Wife and Kids).
While the early trailer is not telling a lot about how good the film is, it is nice to see that the foremost (and likely largest) family of comedy movies has not ended their run. Every film backed by the Wayans clan may not be the best film ever, but then again no actor or Hollywood studio can make that claim either.
This should be a decent film. I hope it's a nice introduction of Damon Wayans Jr. and a success for Damien (it just needs to clear $30 million). But we have some time before it hits theaters, more trailers will arrive. And the opening weekend will say it all. At the very least, it's one of the most original ideas of the 2009 summer movie season.
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