DontbeaMenace

Don’t be a Menace to South Central while drinking your Juice in the Hood (1996)

Reviewing comedies can be a real pain in the butt. Even the plot synopsis is difficult because while describing the movie I keep wanting to mention that it is being played for laughs. So instead of sounding like a broken record I figure that this is ample enough warning. So lets talk about the plot. Ashtray (played by Shawn Wayans) comes to the hood to learn how to be a man from living with his father. While there he meets a girl and falls in love. She has a boyfriend who doesn’t want them to be together, so he starts shooting. Lucky for Ashtray he has his cousin, Loc Dog (played by Marlon Wayans), to watch his back. Toss in some more silly characters, great cameos from Keenen Ivory Wayans, Vivica A. Fox, and Antonio Fargas for a fun movie.

Much like they did with the Scary Movie franchise spoofing horror films the Wayans brothers skewer the “hood” movies of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. If you aren’t familiar with these they are the movies that focus on African American characters that have to deal with the violence and lack of hope that comes with growing up in their neighborhoods. I suppose it is probably in bad taste to be goofing on these movies, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t funny.

The plot of this movie is more like a series of sketches that are parodies of other movies connected by the main characters. Some of the bits are pretty funny, like the “man” and his list or the escalation of weapons that ends with a nuke. Sure some of the bits don’t work, but enough do that I found the movie entertaining. I also thought it was interesting that in spite of having seen this a couple of times I still laugh. To me that is the best indication of whether a comedy works or not. If it makes me laugh on repeated viewings like Don’t be a Menace to South Central while drinking your Juice in the Hood does, then it must be a funny movie!

Now let me finish off this review with a brief warning. I saw all of the movies that this one is referencing when they came out in the theaters. But the humor here can be dated and only works if you have seen them. It would be like sitting down to watch one of the Scary Movie flicks never having seen the movies they were poking fun at. It just wouldn’t work. That said if you have seen these movies then I think you will dig this one. So now is when I need to give the movie a rating. It is funny, but I do have to knock ½ star off for requiring so much “homework” to really get the humor. So it goes from a 3 to a…

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer