The FP

This movie is a brilliance that hasn't really been seen since Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. It is part of a genre that hasn't really been defined yet, and hasn't made it to the mainstream. I'm calling this movie a Fashionably Bad film, because that is how it was crafted. It isn't fair to watch this movie expecting a comedy, there aren't any jokes written into the script itself. Instead the script contains the building blocks for you to create your own jokes at its expense. The movie is entirely portrayed as serious, and there is never a break in this seriousness. But it isn't a drama either, because it is so purposefully stupid.

Don't walk into that theater expecting the movie to hold your hand, be expecting that you are going to have to create your own good time by making jokes during the movie. And if you do that, this movie is one of the funniest I've seen lately.

First off, this is loooowwwww budget and it shows. The sets are repeated over and over which makes the film feel a little claustrophobic given the story setting.

That said, it is really smart and clever in the way it was put together with some genuinely hilarious moments. But this isn't really a movie with a string of sitcom style setups to laugh about. It's more like one big long joke because everyone plays their characters completely straight within the context of a ridiculous world.

The standout character is the hillbilly/gang-leader villain guy. He's so over the top you can't help but smile when he's on screen being a total d'bag the entire way.

The main lead's nod to every anti-hero movie (and noticeably Snake Plissken from Escape from New York) is a running gag. The incongruity of these kids' lives is even more apparent when they have to interact with the occasional middle aged adult who (with the exception of crazy dad) all look pretty much like anyone you'd see today.

The plot is window dressing for the world building and seems mostly an homage to martial arts revenge flicks, with the dance video game taking the place of martial arts.

Where this movie stands out is in 2 places. 1. The music. It's fantastic. They knocked it out of the park with the electronic house/trance compositions that simultaneously nod to John Carpenter's moody soundtracks and bring it completely modern/futuristic.

2. The dialog. It's not quite as genius as Clockwork Orange in this department but it's in that direction. The kids all without exception speak their own dialect that can only be described as street ghetto. It will will be recognizable to Americans who will have heard lots of it in daily language but this is over the top constant. What sets it off as more than an affectation of the movie is the complete lack of black people that you would presume originated the style of language. Not one. There are whites and asians but no blacks. I can only think this is a purposeful move on the writers part and it does make a statement about language and co-opting 'cool'. This combined with the redneck/gangster stereotypes mixed in throughout the movie successfully give this movie a futuristic alien feel. Warning for the sensitive types there are a LOT of N'bombs dropped. However, through all the ridiculousness it hangs together with a weird logic.

Quite an interesting and enjoyable flick full of smiles but few laugh out loud moments. Most of the people in the movie seem to be able to act and they greatly help with the suspension of disbelief.

The last scene is quite hilarious.

If you don't like dry, wry, cerebral parodies then you probably won't like this much. It does drag here and there and the budget is glaringly obvious but I look for really good things from the Trost brothers in the future.

This movie was killer, over the top gangster slang...cheesy logic and lines that made you laugh despite the sheer ridiculous nature of it all...

Its a low budget film, but it makes me wish The Trosts could just get pushed by a big studio..

Its a little slow, but still entertaining. Brilliantly goofy while still maintaining tone. It creates the right atmosphere of dark ambiance, mixed in with the trailer trash vibe that creates a bad ass version of dance dance revolution... There is a strong absurd ideology perpetrated..

Watch this stuff. Its OG.

Bizarre. Hilarious. Audacious. Good? If you like terri- awesome incredi- bad type flicks, this will be right up your alley. Imagine a post- apocalyptic world that is Riverside, CA meth culture with a dash of DDR -- I mean, Beat Beat Revelation. The slang is just wrong enough to ping your internal ear, the outfits are random hodgepodges, and the nudity is arbitrary. The pacing drags in the middle of the film, but overall, it is just crazy enough to cut it. It was as if someone raided TV Tropes and then made a film that just rolled with its own campy ridiculousness. There is no irony in the film -- it's all played straight. I loved it.

"What's a town with no ducks, JTRO?"

"'Dance Dance Revolution,' but make it deadly?" Sure, why not, it's a concept just ridiculous enough to catch my attention. Thankfully, it's made clear right from the very start that the idea is played entirely for laughs - played very straight, mind you, but so absolutely, outrageously over the top that one will either be having a fantastic time within minutes, or turning off the movie just as quickly. Sibling filmmakers Brandon and Jason Trost have whipped up a fabulously farcical flight of fancy that comes right out of the gate with sheer bombast, indifferent to the slightest notion of restraint. The costume design,the hair and makeup work, the characters and dialogue, the scene writing, the narrative: from top to bottom 'The FP' is a pure lark, down to the overcooked acting of a cast that fully embraces the tomfoolery. From top to bottom it's a pure lark that plainly imitates and reshapes more sincere sports films, or stories about archetypal "old dogs" who are called back into action, or other preexisting material. Whether you love it or hate it, I don't think there's any disputing that everyone involved just wholly, unreservedly threw themselves into this nonsense, and it's hard not to appreciate that gusto.

The Trosts' direction and screenplay are both just as cheekily overdone, and cast and crew alike let their imaginations run wild to bring to life every most ludicrous inclusion. There's very little here that isn't a trope, twisted and exaggerated into the weirdest of shapes - including, yes, the obligatory training sequence. From the looks of the characters, to the production design and art direction cobbling together the locales they inhabit, to the music that's filled with videogame-ready tunes, this is a kaleidoscope of color and chicanery. Yet for as absurd as it is across the board, none of it is sloppy, or accidental. No contribution is given less than utmost care. The worst I think I could say is that sometimes the end result is too blustery for its own good; Lee Valmassy, for example, is so exuberant in his deliberately outlandish portrayal of L Dubba E that I'm not sure whether the aggravation I feel is owing to the character being set up as the antagonist, or the consciously far-fetched acting being overbearing. Yet Sarah Trost's costume design is nothing if not imaginative; George Holdcroft's soundtrack is wonderfully flavorful. Far-out as the writing is, there are no specific faults in the screenplay, and the Trosts' direction is solid. Brandon Trost's cinematography is actually kind of... beautiful? Abe Levy's editing is deft. And to accentuate: all actors on hand unremittingly give of themselves, whatever the ballyhoo requires at any given time.

Tremendous hard work went into 'The FP' in every last regard, and no matter how garish, it really does look and sound great. Of course, I could do without the absolutely unnecessary casual use of homophobic slurs, without the underhanded transphobia, and with more diversity in the cast - under no circumstances could this be called perfect. Yet by and large the chief question is how much one can get on board with the intentionally extreme, ham-handed, heavy-handed, pompous swagger of the feature. This is a comedy that's much more wryly satirical than outright funny, a romp for those who love B-movies, hate sports movies, and are fully receptive to all the wide, wacky, whimsical possibilities that cinema has to offer. The nice thing about this picture is that within only the first minutes we can immediately glean an understanding of whether it's something that will entertain, or irritate, on a case by case basis, and the premise alone speaks volumes. For those open to what 'The FP' represents - just sit back, relax, and enjoy the cheesy baloney.