Strangely sour and ultimately wearisome.
Don't Be a Menace... (1996)
Runtime: 89 mins
Synopsis: This film is a parody of the recent "hood" movies made by African-American directors, in particular John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood." The plot focuses on Ashtray, a do-gooder who comes to South Central L.A. to live with his father. Unfortunately, Dad turns out to be a poor role model, as he... This film is a parody of the recent "hood" movies made by African-American directors, in particular John Singleton's "Boyz 'N the Hood." The plot focuses on Ashtray, a do-gooder who comes to South Central L.A. to live with his father. Unfortunately, Dad turns out to be a poor role model, as he extols the virtues of unsafe sex and drunk driving. Ashtray's cousin Loc Dog is no better, with his hair-trigger temper and extensive weaponry (including a nuclear bomb). Ashtray manages to find romance with a pretty poet named Dashiki, but it turns out that she's a little too popular with the men in her neighborhood -- and not for her writing skills. Will Ashtray become disillusioned by what he's seen and experienced in South Central? [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tracey Cherelle Jones, Chris Spencer, Suli McCullough
Producer: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Eric L. Gold
Screenwriter: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans
Reviews
Full of very obvious spoofery, and funnier in concept than in execution.
If you really want to appreciate this film, go see all the hood movies from the 90s - good and bad.
There's maybe three or four half-decent chuckles to be found in this otherwise interminable 90-minute mega-chore.
The thin plot is merely the frame for gags, and there are more a few good ones here.
A free-for-all comic spoof that brings the 'hood' genre of Hollywood films full circle.
The gags -- like most of the Wayanses' humor -- range from astute satire to lowest-common-denominator yucks.
Too many gags fall flat, or are cheap and sleazy instead of clever and witty.
Outrageous is the key word here. In many successful scenes, the Wayans deftly play on our assumptions and cliches.
If I see one more movie featuring that current favorite of obnoxious movie stereotypes -- the pair of abrasive Asian convenience store owners -- I'm not going to even going to think twice before getting up and leaving the theatre.
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