"Shit is tuff up in tha FP, bitch!" – L Dubba E
There are some movies you just can’t judge by rational standards. The FP is one of the most amateur looking feature length productions I’ve ever seen. The dialogue is wooden, and the acting even more so. Nevertheless, The FP is a cult movie spectacular, a window into an insane alternate universe where everyone talks like aliens who learned English watching Boyz in the Hood and gang battles are conducted through intense, deadly Beat Beat Revelation dance-offs. If you’ve taken a moment to process that last sentence, you already know whether or not this movie is for you. If it is for you, boy is it for you!
After the death of his brother BTRO (Brandon Barrera), JTRO (pronounced “Jay Trow”) (Jason Trost) leaves Frazier Park ("The FP") and the thug life behind him. He finds work as a lumberjack in the middle of nowhere. In a sequence straight out of Commando or a Rambo movie, KC/DC (Art Hsu) finds JTRO and convinces him to come back to the FP. In his absence, rival gang member L Dubba E (Lee Valmassy) – the evil Beat Beat Revelation star who killed BTRO – has taken over the town and now rules over all of their gang’s former territory. JTRO trains for the inevitable showdown. This of course necessitates more ridiculous, over the top training montages than you can shake a stick at.
There are little details that make The FP rise above parody or 80s worship and become something uniquely absurd. You might expect this kind of Warriors riff to take place in the inner city, but The FP is almost rural. The laid back setting hilariously offsets the manic lusts of the gang members. Speaking of manic lusts, the fictional world of The FP assumes that all girls really want to give blow jobs. It took me a while to realize the male characters weren’t just being misogynistic, but no, these girls just love giving blow jobs. The fact that The FP looks like its taking place more or less in the “real world” just makes the bizarre slang and blow jobs all the more ridiculous.
To get into the nitty-gritty of what makes The FP work, I’d have to spoil some plot points and jokes that just aren’t worth spoiling. I’ve given you more than enough of the movie’s vibe for you to decide whether you want to see it or not. The FP contains more crackpot fun than rightfully belongs in one movie. In my book, this is a must see at the first opportunity. With friends. And beer.
-Ben
p.s. In case you need one more reason to see this movie, JTRO has an unexplained Snake Pliskin eyepatch!