DON'T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING YOUR JUICE IN THE HOOD
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 4.5 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 1/12/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:28 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, mock violence, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Jones, Sulli McCullough, Chris Spencer, Helen Martin Director: Paris Barclay Producers: Keenen Ivory Wayans and Eric Gold Screenplay: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Phil Beauman Cinematography: Russ Brandt Music: John Barnes U.S. Distributor: Miramax Films
On the surface, it sounds like a good idea to satirize the numerous black urban films that have reached movie screens since the release of John Singleton's groundbreaking BOYZ 'N THE HOOD. The failure of this movie, therefore, has less to do with the premise than with the execution. Probably the most inventive aspect of Shawn and Marlon Wayans' DON'T BE A MENACE TO SOUTH CENTRAL WHILE DRINKING YOUR JUICE IN THE HOOD is the title. Rather than going for biting, hard-hitting satire, this movie constantly takes the easy way out -- cheap, tired gags that the viewer can see coming. Moments worth more than a strained chuckle are disappointingly few.
Watching DON'T BE A MENACE, I was strongly reminded of Mel Brooks' recent spate of lackluster comedies (SPACEBALLS, LIFE STINKS, ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT). This film has much the same level of humor -- stale, obvious, and only occasionally funny. In fact, given a similar concept, Brooks probably would have come up with something similar to DON'T BE A MENACE.
At one point or another, DON'T BE A MENACE offers a parody of just about every inner city drama of the '90s. Singleton's work is the most frequently targeted: the storyline is loosely based on BOYZ 'N THE HOOD, there's a scene featuring a girl reading a poem while music from POETIC JUSTICE plays in the background, and Omar Epps has a cameo on his way to HIGHER LEARNING. The most involving part of DON'T BE A MENACE is identifying the many references to previous films.
The two Wayans, best known from IN LIVING COLOR, play friends Ashtray and Loc Dog, a couple of high school kids roaming the hood, getting shot at, impregnating girls, and being put in their place by a tough-talking, trigger-happy granny. DON'T BE A MENACE comes across as a poor sister to Keenan Ivory Wayans' I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA. It has a similar style, but isn't as amusing. SUCKA was no masterpiece, but its uneven sendup of Blaxploitation pictures boasted several inspired comic sequences.
That's not to say that DON'T BE A MENACE doesn't have its moments. A few scenes stand out. One lampoons STAND BY ME. Another has a grocery store owner watching Ashtray and Loc like a hawk while a neatly- dressed white guy robs her blind. A third has LA cops playing the "Rodney King video game". Beyond that, though, all that DON'T BE A MENACE offers is a tremendous quantity of lame jokes. There are laughs to be had, but not enough to lift this film out of its morass of mediocrity. Unfortunately, this is recycled -- not cutting-edge -- humor.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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