Goofy ‘The FP’ is Geared For Manic Midnight Movie Goers

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Average: 5 (1 vote)
HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.5/5.0
Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “The FP,” playing in midnight shows this weekend at Music Box and in various arthouse theaters around the country, is a hard movie to put your finger on. Is it just bad like “Birdemic” or “The Room” or is it something “trying” to be bad? Is it a spoof of bad movies or just a bad movie? Does it matter? Either way, “The FP” works for its audience, a rowdy crowd of midnight movie fans willing to put up with over-the-top silliness, bad performances, and general lunacy. It’s essentially an extended short film that doesn’t even justify its short running time but audiences on its wavelength will eat it up.

One has to give the team behind “The FP” major credit for sticking to their ridiculous vision from first frame to last. Their movie is totally goofy and I don’t mean that as insulting as it may sound. The first ten minutes of the flick have been circulating online and if they work for you then you’ll be happy to know that the movie maintains that level of oddity. “The FP” is kind of like a hybrid between “The Warriors,” “Step Up,” “The Karate Kid,” and a truly meta work like “Rubber” or “Casa De Mi Padre.” It takes itself incredibly seriously even though there’s absolutely nothing serious going on at all.

The FP
The FP
Photo credit: Drafthouse Films

“The FP” stands for “Frazier Park,” the odd setting of the film that sometimes looks futuristic but just as often looks like a redneck trailer park that was invaded by Dubstep. Two groups fight for control of “The FP,” the 248 from the North and the 245 from the South. How do they fight? With knives, weapons, or other common devices of the genre? Of course not. They “fight” with one-on-one competitions of “Beat-Beat Revelation,” a version of “Dance Dance Revolution.” Clad in what look like cheap DJ outfits, two men dance to video game cues in underground clubs.

In the opening scene, JTRO (Jason Trost) loses his brother in a deadly “Beat-Beat” battle and goes into hiding after the loss. One year later, jackasses have taken over “The FP” largely by controlling the flow of alcohol. The thinking is that with no booze, people turn to drugs. It’s actually alcohol that’s keeping civilization in order. JTRO has to come back the FP and get the girl, win the final battle, and save his people.

The FP
The FP
Photo credit: Drafthouse Films

“The FP” features such a bizarre ear for dialogue that it could instantly turn people off who aren’t willing to go with it. Emotional moments are punctuated with “for reals.” People say things like “gots,” “futtbucking,” and “a-ight.” The dialogue in “The FP” is so consistently bizarre that it becomes easily its greatest strength. Watching grown men say things like “I was gonna come talk to you earlier but sh*t was all dancing” and “you got to dance with your mind not your feet” with complete commitment has an infectious quality. The Trost brothers (star Jason and brother Brandon) made “The FP” with such devotion to their insane idea for a movie that it’s hard to criticize it.

Yes, “The FP” is too long even at 83 minutes. It really starts to drag around an hour as the extended sketch nature of the piece kicks in and it spins its wheels towards the inevitable climax (however, it’s worth sticking with just for the national anthem in front of the final battle…it’s possibly the most hysterical one ever put on film). Some of the performances are pretty weak and there are just as many times that the jokes in “The FP” fall flat as there are that they work, but the reason I’m willing to forgive the occasional falter is simple — I see a LOT of lazy, boring comedies in the course of the year. Whatever one thinks of “The FP,” there’s nothing boring going on here and I don’t think anyone could call this level of originality lazy. “The FP” is bucking a-ight…for reals.

“The FP” stars Jason Trost, Lee Valmassy, Art Hsu, Caitlyn Folley, Nick Principe, Brandon Barrera, Sean Whalen, and James Remar. It was written and directed by Brandon & Jason Trost. It plays at midnight on Friday and Saturday at the Music Box Theatre.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

justaguy23423's picture

It was definitely an

It was definitely an interesting movie

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