The FP
Directed by: The Trost Brothers Cast: Jason Trost, Art Hsu, Lee Valmassy Running Time: 1 hr 22 mins Rating: R Release Date: March 16, 2012 (Chicago)
PLOT: A futuristic civil war in California's Frazier Park is fought by two gangs who competitively play the dance game "Beat Beat Revelation."
WHO'S IT FOR?: People who think that “midnight movies” are only played at that certain time because that’s when all cults meet. Being talented at "Dance Dance Revolution" is not required.
OVERALL
Like the Wonderland that sucks in little virginal Alice into a mind-blowing odyssey of stunning events and funky characters, all of them dressed up with impeccable costuming, The FP grabs hold of its lucky viewers and takes them through a bizarre world more magical (and delightfully over-the-top) than something we could ever try to conceive ourselves.
From two brothers who worked on the underrated exquisite classic of “F**k You” cinema, Crank: High Voltage, the mentality of The FP is indeed very self amusing, much like something like David Gordon Green's Your Highness, etc. It must have been great fun to make, yet the audience becomes in tune with the brilliance of The FP once its tone becomes crystal clear at the very beginning. The FP does whatever it wants, and we love it for that very reason. It takes “over-the-top” to sky-high levels of creativity, making everything as positively wild as possible, from its blistering dialogue, to thrift-store robbing costuming, to archetypal performances (which are great), to even the way the film ends itself. Mixing in nudges and punches at '80s movie machoness with the recent craze of flashy dance movies, The FP provides immaculate entertainment for the midnight movie crowd, and beyond. Apparently, when I saw this at SXSW 2011, I laughed louder and more obnoxiously with The FP than I did at Super.
“Sh*t’s tough in the FP, b*tch!” Words of more ridiculous brilliance have probably never been spoken, and this isn’t even the best moment in The FP’s linguistic prowess. Believe it or not, The FP has some of the smartest commentary about the usage of the word “nigga” you’ll see in all of pop culture. Used throughout, the word is given 0% empowerment, nor any brutality as a weapon. While it has been juggled in pop culture as either a vicious racial term or an extremely difficult word for camaraderie, The FP gives the word neither position, and instead takes away the power of the word by flaunting it throughout its story, pointing out how silly it is. The FP is so on-mark with its understated wit that it even turns the word into a stupid, stupid, stupid phrase: “Never Ignorant in Getting Goals Accomplished.”
Some might get it, and some will not. For those who become in tune with the hilarious serious stupidity of The FP, this is full force indie filmmaking at its most awesome.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10