Dance Flick

WHAT WOULD happen if you were force-fed manure for a decade? Maybe you’d go crazy, or maybe you’d start to like manure.

WHAT WOULD happen if you were force-fed manure for a decade? Maybe you’d go crazy, or maybe you’d start to like manure.

One or the other appears to have happened to me. The reign of bilge that has seen Scary Movie, Date Movie, Disaster Movie(plus occasional breaks with standard nomenclature such as Meet the Spartans) smearing themselves against the world's cinema screens is, indeed, now approaching its 10th year. And what do you know? Dance Flickactually proves to be a bit of a laugh.

The pedigree of the Moviemovies has become somewhat muddled in recent years. Initiated by the Wayans Brothers, the series was then infiltrated by David Zucker, and now the rival franchises battle for attention in the same way that those two touring versions of Bucks Fizz squabble like middle-aged lunatics in pixie boots.

Anyway, Dance Flickis a certified Wayans original and, for the first time in quite a while, this entry to the canon actually remains focused on the class of film alluded to in its title.

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Modelling itself closely on Save the Last Dance– the one with Julia Styles as a ballerina getting down with the homies – this agreeably unpretentious romp raises decent laughs as it takes only modestly unwholesome swipes at the likes of Step Up, Fame, Hairsprayand How She Move. The performances are so secure and the satire so focused that I almost find myself looking forward to the next decade of Moviemovies.

Yeah, I have gone barmy. Nurse, bring the extra-strong tablets.

Donald Clarke

Donald Clarke

Donald Clarke, a contributor to The Irish Times, is Chief Film Correspondent and a regular columnist